Snake in Lion Skin
by Wolfwhispers
Summary: Harry managed to escape Voldemort during the summer. Now he trains more than ever and creates a friendship with the magical creature community. Only problem is, Voldemort has a new weapon to try on Harry. Will Harry be able to get rid human and beast prej
1. Tagger

I don't own Harry Potter or anything that has to do with it. Characters that you have never heard of probably belong to me.

This takes place in the summer before 5th year.

X X X X X

"Where are they?" A cold voice asked.

"My…my Lord, we have not gotten a hold of them yet," said the small, whimpering figure that was crouching down on the floor.

"This does not please me."

"My Lor..Lord! Please—"

"Crucio!" Lord Voldemort watched as the pathetic creature known as Wormtail writhed on the floor with pain. After a few minutes, Voldemort lifted his wand. "I have waited long enough. I gave you plenty of time. Now, where is Lucius? He has—"

Voldemort was cut off as a Death Eater barged into the room. "My Lord!"

The Death Eater could no longer say anything else as he was hit with the Cruciatus curse. "That will teach you to barge in on Lord Voldemort's meetings uninvited, Nott," Voldemort snarled.

"I am sorry my Lord, but Malfoy has come back with the Manacles of Reijuu!" Knott cried out.

Voldemort's eyes narrowed. "What are you wait for, fool? Bring him to me."

"Yes, my Lord." Nott quickly crawled to Voldemorts feet, kissed the hems of his robes and darted out of the room. A few seconds later, a smirking Lucius Malfoy came in. He walked in, kneeled and kissed Voldemort's robes.

"I have brought what you have asked, my Lord." Lucius extended a small box towards Voldemort.

Voldemort took the box and stared at Malfoy, cold eyes judging. "Any troubles getting it?"

Malfoy's blood ran cold at the scrutiny but still said in a strong voice, "No, my Lord. There was no interference. The Minister is turning a blind eye towards your most extraordinary return."

Voldemort's eyes narrowed. "None at all? No attack or ambush?"

"None." Lucius was now smirking.

"Then tell me, Lucius, if you did not encounter any obstacle, why did it take you three weeks to find them?" Voldemort said voice cold and furious. The smirk was gone now, cold sweat dripped from the back of his head with dread. Lucius looked up nervously. "Crucio."

Lucius screamed. "May this be a reminder that Lord Voldemort does not like to wait."

"Ye…yes, My Lord."

"Good, now Malfoy, Nott, leave." The two left as fast as they could and Voldemort turned back to the box. Opening it carefully, Voldemort took out four very old looking manacles and a collar that looked like it was made of metal. They were all a gold color and they had runes carved into them.

Wormtail looked at the items curiously. "What are those for?"

Voldemort turned and glared at Wormtail, red eyes glowing dangerously. Wormtail squeaked, not realizing he had thought out loud.

"Listen carefully, Wormtail, for I will only say this once. I only tell you this because you will be on the assignment." Wormtail inched forward curiously. "These manacles are very special. When forced onto a person they become perfect, obedient slaves. However, they still know what is happening."

"…" Wormtail didn't really know what to say to this.

"The person is still in control of his or her head, eyes, and thoughts. And there are special traits that … how shall we say, persuades said person. Until all four manacles and the collar are on a person, then he or she will still be able to fight the urge to obey their 'master.'"

"But Master! I am a very good servant!" Wormtail squeaked.

"Fool. They are not for you. Do not think so highly of yourself."

"I am sor-"

"Silence!" Wormtail squeaked in fear, panting on the floor. "No, you poor excuse for Death Eater, it's for Potter."

"Po…Potter, My Lord?" Wormtail gulped.

Voldemort's eyes narrowed. "Yes, Potter. I just don't want him dead—oh, but I will kill him. I want him to be my most _faithful_ servant. I want him to suffer as I make him destroy every single person he holds dear."

"Bu-"

"Crucio!" Voldemort stared at the twitching form before him. "Potter will be mine. No one will get in my way."

X X X X X X

Many miles away, Harry James Potter woke up, panting and shaking. Putting a hand to his forehead, Harry walked to the bathroom.

"_Another dream," _Harry thought grimly. He slapped some water against his face before heading over to his desk. Reaching for some parchment, Harry gasped in pain. His scar was on fire.

"_What the bloody hell is he so happy about? And what are the manacles of Reeee-something? Better write to Dumbledore." _After getting control of his panting, Harry started the letter.

_Dear Professor Dumbledore,_

_I had this really weird dream. No, it was not about Cedric. Voldemort got these weird manacles. I can't remember what he called them. It started with an R or something. He also told Wormtail that he'll have a job to do. Sorry I couldn't give you anymore information._

_Tell the other I said hi._

_HP_

Nodding, Harry turned to his snowy owl, huddled with three new members. Not knowing the reason why, Harry just didn't want to tell Dumbledore he was the target. "Up for a bit of flying, Hedwig?"

Hedwig hooted silently before gliding over to his arm and holding out her leg. The letter securely attached, Hedwig gave Harry a look that said, 'Let anything happen to them while I'm gone and you'll get it.'

Grinning widely, Harry turned to the three new members of his family. Three baby owls were sound asleep in a nest Harry and Hedwig had made together. Apparently Hedwig had been a little 'busy' over the summer. Harry had actually scolded Hedwig when she laid her eggs.

When he wrote to Hermione and told her how he reacted, she wrote back saying that he sounded like an overprotective brother or father. Harry liked the idea of being an older brother. Father just didn't fancy him right now.

Looking at each owlet, Harry stroked each head. He had had them for several weeks and they were already getting their feathers but were still unable to fly. The one on the right was Penny. She was a very light brown with white sticking out everywhere. She had big gray eyes.

The second one was Clutz. He got his name because he fell over very easily. Harry had even thought about naming him Neville at first but thought better of it. He too had gray eyes and was solid white.

The last one was Harry's favorite. He had solid black feathers. Not one speck of white and he had Hedwig's big yellow eyes. Harry assumed he looked just like his father (Whoever he is) and his mother's eyes, just like him. His name was Padfoot, in loving memory of Sirius.

The two were so much alike. Padfoot was always trying to get out of the nest and cause trouble, just like Sirius. When Harry wrote to him, he just laughed and replied back saying it was hilarious.

Chuckling slightly at the memory, Harry laid back down on his bed, wide awake. _"Gah! I'm so bored. I wonder when anyone will pick me up." _Having nothing better to do, Harry got started on some homework.

Two hours later, Harry put down his quill and finished essay for Transfiguration. It was now five A.M. Looking out the window, Harry noticed something flying toward his window. Heart thumping, Harry opened the window and let a small group of owls fly in.

"Any letters saying when I'll be picked up?" Harry asked the owls. The owls only blinked at him. Pig started flying around his head hooting madly. "Shhh. Don't wake up the Dursley's," Harry whispered. Snatching the puff ball out of the air, Harry took off the letter and released Pig.

Shaking his head slightly, Harry untied the rest of the letter's from the two other owls. "You can get a drink if you want," Harry offered. The owls hooted in thanks but the brown flew over to the hatchlings and nuzzled each one.

Before the owl took off, it gave Harry a look very much like Hedwig's. Chuckling, Harry opened the letter from Dumbledore.

_Dear Harry,_

_I am sorry to say I do not have much information on this new tool of Voldemort's. Expect a visit in the next one to two weeks. _

_Dumbledore_

Harry crumpled up the piece of parchment. He wasn't told anything! All summer he had been trying to get information out of people but he hadn't received any! Hadn't he proven himself already?

Fuming, Harry grabbed the letter from Ron.

_Harry!_

_You won't believe what's happened! Fudge has gone crazy! Well, crazier. Dumbledore said he is forcing him to take this Umbridge lady as the next DADA teacher. Whatever Fudge is playing at, it's not good. I'm sorry I can't write anything else. I'll tell you all I know you come visit._

_Ron_

_P.S. Hermione's here as well._

Gritting his teeth, Harry threw the parchment to the floor. Both his best friends were only Merlin knows where and he wasn't even getting one hint of what's going on!

Turning to the last item, Harry was surprised to see it was from the twins. Harry looked at the letter and small box suspiciously. He wouldn't place it past Fred and George to prank him and/or the Dursley's, especially after last year.

Harry carefully opened the letter.

Dear Harry. It's me, Gred!

**And Forge! We have something that will make your summer very interesting.**

Too right ol brother of mine. A present from us to you to thank you for what you did for us!

**And also you need to live a little. Even if old Voldie decides to kill you, at least you'll have some fun. Honestly though, Harry, you need to get a life!**

A prank life! Sirius told us your father was the famous Prongs! How could you not tell us! (cries.)

**Good question ol brother of mine. Besides all the pranking items, we have a very, VERY special gift.**

Be warned! He or she may not like you.

**Don't worry; it's not one of Hagrids 'pets.' **

Harry paused from his reading let out a sigh of relief before continuing.

It's a special potion made by myself and George. Now I assume you know all about animagus's?

**If not, he definitely needs some help, seeing how his godfather is one.**

Anyway, the point is that this potion will allow you to become one! Each person has an inner animal. When that person finds his or her inner animal, they call to it. Then that animal will help said person transform.

**Be careful. Sometimes it can be painful. Now you inner animal can either stay or disappear. We decided to let ours stay.**

Of course we won't tell you what our animals are…yet.

**The inner animal is like your subconscious…kinda. It's a little voice in your head. At least that's what McGonagall said. **

BUUUT!

**But we perfected it. We gave the inner animal life. Only you or another person who took the potion will be able to see the animal, which will soon only be the three of us. It will be a small ghost like figure that follows you everywhere.**

Make sure you're nice, or they won't help you transform. Ours said that sometimes it takes a while for some wizards to complete the transformation if they have a high magic.

**And it'll be painful.**

No too painful, mind you.

**But what we're trying to say-**

-is that tansforming-

**-for you-**

-is going to be a-

**-bitch.**

So enjoy our gifts.

**We are most thankful to our wonderful benefactor. **

Gred and **Forge.**

Harry was laughing so hard by the time he finished the letter. Only those two could write a letter like that. However, they were right. He did need to lighten up a bit more. Chuckling, Harry opened the box.

A huge assortment of colors nearly blinded him. He could see a few candies and fireworks but he mostly eyed the new items. Picking up a rubber snake, Harry picked up the letter next to it.

_Harry, this snake will be able to understand you in parseltongue, so it should be simple. Just say activate and it will turn on. Tell it where to go and who to blow up on. This snake contains itching powder. The second one contains a gas that will knock out whoever is near enough to smell it._

_Be warned, it will blow up after five minutes if it can't get to the person it was told to go to._

Harry whistled, clearly impressed. The next item was a red rubber ball. The more he bounced it, the brighter and hotter it got. Too much bouncing and you got a small flamethrower. There was also a blue ball that did the same thing but unleashed a huge amount of water.

The other items were very interesting. He got a bottle filled with red goop. It dries automatically and become as hard as cement. There were some blue and red pills but Harry decided to check those later. Another item was blob of pink goop. Like the candy, Harry decided to look at that later.

Turning to the clear, green liquid, Harry unscrewed the cap. It was the potion that would help him transform.

Glancing at the letter one last time, Harry downed the vial. This was it! He could finally become an animagus! He hadn't exactly had much time to practice it with the tournament last year.

Grimacing, Harry put the vial down… and waited. _"…So what's supposed to happen?"_

"I show up!" A voice shouted.

Harry whipped his head around, excitement filled him. "Where are you? Are you my inner animal? Fred and George said you could become a ghost or something. Can you show yourself?"

"Hahahahaha. But this is fun. What if I don't _want_ to show you?" the voice taunted.

"What? C'mon," Harry whined.

"Sheesh, don't need to whine about it. The twins were right; you do need to liven up." And then a small white, transparent, thing appeared in front of Harry's face.

Harry blinked. "Bu…But you're a dragon!"

The dragon blinked innocently. "Really? I never noticed."

"But aren't…uh." Harry was at a loss.

The dragon smirked. "Speechless? Are you stunned at all that is me?"

Harry was confused. "If you're my inner animal, aren't you supposed to be like me?"

Dragon floated upside down. "I am you. You just became boring. This is your mask. Damn Dursley's made ya this way. Think of me as your playful, pranking, good looking, sexy-"

"Annoying side," Harry continued.

Dragon only 'humphed.'

"So, uh, Dragon, will I be able to transform into you?"

Dragon nodded. "Maybe, but only if your nice!" And then he began to swoop around the room, doing flips and commenting on his room, very sarcastically.

"Hey!" Harry squawked. "What's wrong with my robes?"

"They're boring. We need to prank someone! You're boring. I wanna go outside. This place is boring."

Harry groaned. Fate must really hate him to give him such an annoying inner animal. "What about transforming? Please?"

Dragon looked thoughtful. "I suppose I can help you a little bit right now. Be warned, it will hurt a little. Don't expect to transform all the way. It must be a little at a time."

Harry, annoyed with all the warnings, nodded but narrowed his eyes. "The risks?"

"You need to start working for the transformation. Once I start, it will come at completely random times. I will be able to warn you when they come." Dragon grinned cheekily. "If you don't want anyone to see, I suggest you bury yourself in this room."

Harry groaned. "How long will it take?"

"For you? A few days at most. However, I do not want you sitting around in this room doing nothing. You need exercise! You're a shrimp!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too and you need to be ready for anything!"

Harry lifted an eyebrow. "For what?"

"Anything. What if we suddenly need to leave? You need to get the hatchlings out of here quickly if there's an attack." Dragon jerked his head toward the sleeping owlets.

Harry nodded. "Just tell me what to do."

"You know, I _am_ you. Was I somehow blocked off from you while you got stupider?"

"I'd rather be dumb than a hot-headed lizard," Harry retorted.

"Good! At least you have some spunk! First off, get dressed." Harry complied and was soon wearing baggy black jeans that actually fit him and a black T-shirt that also fit. Hermione had forced him to buy some clothes that actually fit when he was in Hogsmeade.

Dragon nodded approvingly. "Now grab some galleons. We'll find a pawn shop and trade 'em. You have plenty."

Harry nodded. "You know, I never got your name. I can't just call you Dragon."

Dragon nodded, grinning widely. "Ok. Name me! Name me!"

"You mean you have no name?" Harry asked.

"Nope! Name me! Name me!"

Harry rolled his eyes before, "How about…Jade?"

"…What kinda name is that!? That's pathetic. You're pathetic. That name is pathetic. That-" But Harry cut him off.

"Ok, fine. How about…" Harry was actually thinking of saying Norbert to annoy the dragon but instead said, "Tagger."

Dragon started chuckling. Pretty soon it was full out laughter. Harry was glad the Dursley's couldn't hear or there would be trouble if they were woken. Harry unconsciously rubbed his left shoulder.

"Tagger huh? Isn't that the name you always wanted to call a dog…if you had one?"

Harry blushed. "What's wrong with it? I like it!"

"Ok then, Tagger it is," Tagger said happily. Harry smiled. Ever since he was little, he had always wanted a dog named Tagger.

When he was little, he had found a dog on the streets and brought it back to the Dursley's. Unfortunately, the Dursley's would never let him keep anything that Dudley didn't get or didn't want.

"Now let's get going. Go out your window. There are people watching the house from the front," said Tagger.

Harry blinked. "An enemy? And jump out the window?! We're on the second story! And what about the transformation?"

"Not an enemy. Yes, jump out your window and fine! I'll get started on the transformation. Get ready." Harry nodded. "Are you ready?" Harry nodded again. "Are you sure?" Tagger was now grinning.

"Yes!" Harry glared.

"Ok, chibi, get ready."

"Chibi? Don't call me tha-" but Harry was cut off as Tagger flew to his face pressed against his forehead. Pain, excruciating pain came. It was almost as bad as the Cruciatus curse.

He wouldn't scream. He couldn't scream. Tagger floated above Harry as he writhed in pain on the floor. "Hold on Harry, just a little bit longer."

Harry's bones were on fire. He could feel them changing. He could feel more being added, some taken away, others remolded. When the last bone stopped changing, the pain went away and Harry opened his tear filled eyes.

He could hear the owlets chirping loudly. Groaning, Harry sat up and stared at Tagger. For the first time, Harry really looked at Tagger. Tagger was white but he wasn't sure if that was his true color or not. He had long, beautiful, leathery wings that stretched a good distance. Four claws on the front legs and three large ones on the rear legs.

He had two horns on his head that were shaped like an antelope's and below them were two smaller ones that stuck straight out to the sides. The tail was long and flexible with a spaded point at the end.

The last bit that Harry noticed, were the spikes that extended from Tagger's neck, to where his tail started.

"Are you done with the inspection?" Tagger joked.

Harry blushed with embarrassment. "Sorry."

"Stop apologizing," Tagger snapped. "Get independent or something."

Harry glared weakly. "Let me just feed the owlets first." Getting up, Harry poured a large amount of seeds and squished worms into the bowl next to the nest. The owlets hooted loudly. "Shhh. You guys need to be qui-"

"BOY!" Harry gulped as his uncle came barging into his room. Instinctively, Harry stepped in front of the owlets. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT THOSE RUDDY OWLS?!"

"They were just hungry, I was feeding them," Harry said, suddenly very protective.

His Uncle quickly grabbed him by his shirt and dragged him so close that they were an inch apart. "If I hear one peep out of them, they're out of here. I have an important meeting tonight with the head of my business. Either you stay in here all day, or you can just stay outside all night."

Harry gulped, trying to get out of his Uncle's grasp. "Just say you'll stay in your room, Harry. Tell him to not let anyone bother you," Tagger said, growling at Vernon.

"Ok, Uncle Vernon, I'll stay in here. I won't make a sound, nor will the owls. Just don't let anyone come in here."

His Uncle narrowed his eyes. "You better be silent, boy, and no funny business." With that, Vernon threw Harry to the ground and left the room. Harry could hear an audible click. The door had been locked.

Harry sighed and picked up his glasses. They had fallen off when he was pushed down. It was better to just stay silent or his Uncle would get even madder. Unfortunately, Tagger didn't feel the same way.

"Stupid boy!" Tagger yelled. "How dare you let him treat you, no, us like that!?"

Harry sighed once more. "It's just bet—what the?" He took his glasses off, and the put them on again. "What's going on? I can see perfectly!"

Tagger looked very smug, all anger forgotten. "Of course you can see better. Your eye sight and bones were fixed."

"Wait, wait. Does this mean I'm taller now?" Harry asked excitement in his eyes.

"Eh…no. But that doesn't mean you won't grow! You actually have a better chance at growing. Did you know how screwed up your bones were? All that damn nutrition stuff you did or didn't get. Malnutrition or something."

Harry sighed. "Another thing, how will I get down?"

"Jump."

"Jump…out the second story?"

"Yep!"

"Are you crazy!?" Wait, didn't they have this conversation already?

"If I am, then you are as well, since you are me." Harry sighed. "Look, your bone structure is completely different. It must be so that your dragon form will be more comfortable. Your bones are harder and more…er, shall we say, springy."

"Springy," Harry deadpanned

"Yes, springy. You can jump a bit higher than before. You have to practice though! A dragon never flies without a good jump in the air! Landing will be easier. Just follow your instincts."

Harry scowled. "All my instincts have only gotten me in trouble. Just look at what happened to Ced…Cedric." Harry looked away, shame and sadness graced his face.

Tagger growled and got in Harry's face. "You had no idea that would happen! Besides, the least you could do is get stronger and get revenge! Don't let Cedric's death be in vain."

Harry nodded slowly. "Do you think…that maybe if I wasn't alive-"

"No," Tagger cut him off. "Everyone deserves a chance at life. Even if some were destined to die, at least you lived. And I can tell you right now, you were destined to live. Listen to me; I am your voice of reason." Tagger grinned and did flips in the air, making faces.

Harry snorted. "Voice of reason? Ha! More like the voice of most annoying dragon in the world!"

Tagger pouted. "I know you don't mean that, Harry. Now do you have some galleons?" Harry shoved a few into his pocket. "Ok! Now jump out that window and follow your instincts."

Harry nodded and looked back at the owlets who watched him curiously. "Be good you three." They chirped in response. Turning back to the window, Harry looked out. _"Ok, just follow instincts. C'mon Potter! You've had higher jumps before!" _Taking a deep breath, Harry dropped to the ground.

To his surprise, he landed in a crouching position, completely safe. It hadn't even hurt when he landed. Harry at least expected a little sting or just completely falling over. "I told you so!" Tagger said in a sing-song voice.

"Yea, yea. Let's just get some money and then some breakfast." Tagger nodded in agreement and followed Harry.

Ten minutes later, Harry found himself standing in front of an old looking pawn shop. "Well, go in already, slowpoke," Tagger taunted. "Don't tell me you're scared?"

Harry scowled. "Of course not you annoying hot head." This time Tagger scowled while Harry walked in. An old man eyed Harry carefully as he entered. Nodding slightly, Harry made his way over to him "What can I get for these?" Harry took out the gold galleons and set them on the table.

The old man's eyes widened for a second before narrowing them at Harry. "Where did you get these, lad?"

Harry frowned. "Stupid man getting into our business. Beat the crap out of him Harry!" Tagger cheered.

Ignoring him, Harry said, "My business is my own. Does it really matter where I got them?" He unconsciously rubbed some hair over his scar but the old man noticed.

"Harry…Harry Potter?" He asked weakly.

"How do you know my name? Who are you?" Harry snarled.

"Woah there, lad. Calm down, didn't mean any offense. As for your first question, I have many names, keeps me outta trouble."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So you're a wizard? And I don't suppose any of these items get you into trouble, huh?" Harry gave a sly grin.

Mr. No Name just laughed. "Perhaps, but I'm sure I can offer you some items that could keep ya quiet. And a wizard? Nah, I'm a squib."

Harry stared at the old man for a while. "I really don't care what items you sell, as long as it doesn't hurt the muggles."

The old man waved his hand. "Nothing like that, lad. Just a few things bordering into the dark arts. Course I don't have that many items, but you know how prejudice people are."

Harry nodded in understanding. "Well, now that's covered, I would like to exchange those galleons into muggle money, look around your shop, and make sure this little meeting between you and me never happened."

"I don't question my customer's motives so I won't question yours, Mr. Potter. However, do you honestly know how much money you're going to have to carry?" At Harry's confused look he continued. "Galleons are pure gold, and worth quite a bit to mediocre muggles. To wizards or any other magical beast, just one galleon is a little over three pounds."

Tagger laughed at Harry's face. "All this time you had hundreds and you did nothing! HAHAHAHAHA. What's next? You got a cousin named Phil who's actually your next door neighbor and you never knew? HAHAHAHA"

Harry threw a dark look at before turning back to the store keeper. "Ok, I'll trade several galleons from some money. You wouldn't mind if I looked around while you got the money, would you?"

The store keeper nodded his head. Grinning in thanks, Harry started walking around the store. "Bravo, Harry. You handled yourself pretty good for a first timer."

Glancing at Tagger, Harry whispered, "What do you mean by that?"

Tagger only grinned mysteriously. "You acted pretty Slytherin. Talking like that, telling him what and when things will happen. Getting your money and 'threatening' him to not tell anyone about you being here."

"I didn't threaten him."

"Sure, Harry, whatever you say."

Scowling, Harry walked up to a glass container. Inside were several large pocket knives. Looking at each one carefully, Harry picked the one with the solid black handle. The blade was about as long as his hand and was really shiny.

"Oooh, shiny," Tagger said, gazing at the knife with sparkling eyes.

"_Not to self: Never let Tagger be alone with knives or shiny stuff," _Harry thought with a chuckle.

Not seeing anything else in the cabinet, Harry walked toward some of the bags. "Choose this one, Harry," Tagger called. "This one has plenty of pockets and it's a nice sized backpack. Not too big but not too small. You could also place the owlets in this pocket if you were in a hurry and had to get them out of there."

Harry shrugged and grabbed the backpack. It was a blackish gray color. It really would be helpful if he had to get out of a tight spot in a hurry. After grabbing a black bandana, Harry made his way back to the store keeper.

"That all lad?" Harry nodded, but his eyes strayed to a silver flask and was reminded of Mad Eye Moody, fake or not. The shop keeper followed his gaze. "That there is a special flask. It automatically refills by itself. All you need to do is think of what drink you want and it'll fill the flask."

"I'll take it," Harry said at once.

The shop keeper chuckled. "Oh, and it has an age limit. It'll know if you aren't 21, so don't expect to get any alcohol."

Harry blushed. Tagger laughed at his 'misfortune.' "Too bad, Harry! Oh well, we can always sneak some from the kitchens at Hogwarts."

"I wasn't really thinking of drinking, sir."

The old man chuckled. "I was only playing with you, lad. Now, let's see. You got the bandana, backpack, and these two magical items."

Harry blinked. "The knife is magical?"

Old man shrugged. "Yep, wasn't told what it does though. I do know it's made out of silver, so if you ever have a werewolf problem, there's your answer." Harry thought of Remus and immediately knew he would never use it on anyone, except in self defense against Death Eaters.

"Ok, now. The magical objects are a bit expensive but you still have twelve pounds left."

"Thank you. I'll just put the knife and flask in the back pack and I'll put the bandana on now."

Old man chuckled. "Couldn't you just put a glamour charm on your scar?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Nothing keeps this thing hidden. If I find someone who can remove scars, I'll give him all the galleons I own."

Tagger chuckled as Harry left. "You're such a girl, Harry."

"What!?" Harry squawked. A few people actually turned to stare at him. Blushing in embarrassment, Harry hissed, "What do you mean I'm like a girl?"

Tagger stared at Harry from his half upside down position in the air. "You care too much about what you look like."

"Because everyone I meet only want to look at my damn scar."

"Hmm, good point."

Harry snorted at the dragon. "It just gets annoying."

"Understandable. Now go get some food and buy some seeds for the owlets." Harry mock saluted and walked into the pet store and bought a small bag of bird seeds with a news paper for him to read later.

After buying a burger, Harry made his way to the park.

"They're all staring at you, Harry."

"I know," Harry whispered. "Those lies the Dursley's told made everyone believe I'm some sort of criminal."

"I say you prank the Dursley's."

"Hmm, maybe before we leave." Looking down at the ground, Harry noticed some green and red chalk.

"Draw something," Tagger said excitedly.

Harry shook his head. "What for? It's stupid and childish."

"So? Be a child for once!"

"What for? I've never once had a childhood, why start now?"

"Just do it. Or are scared someone will see you? Now's the chance to get that childhood!" Tagger landed near the chalk and would have nudged them closer to Harry but was unable to touch anything.

Sighing, Harry knelt down and grabbed the green chalk. What would he draw? Why was Tagger encouraging him to do something like this? Thinking for a second, Harry began to draw a long line.

A while passed and Harry was quit pleased with how his drawing was coming out. "Fun, isn't it Harry? And you're pretty good at drawing!"

"Thanks," Harry mumbled. He was drawing a basilisk rearing its head, preparing to strike a phoenix. The thought of the Chamber of Secrets had come to his mind. Drawing was actually really nice. He didn't feel any stress, and Harry wasn't mourning over Cedric anymore.

The park was already almost filled with people but Harry didn't mind. For once, he was content. The wind blew against his face, messing up his already messy hair. Sweat was already starting to appear on his face from the heat of the day. It didn't bother him, though. Instead, he just sat there, thinking about everything.

His thoughts were elsewhere. Just enjoying the actual thrill of doing something meaningless but fun for once in his life. So it came to a surprise that just as he was about to finish the phoenix, Harry's head jerked up as he sensed something coming toward him.

Quickly lifting his hand, Harry caught the red ball that was coming right at him. _"Phew, thank goodness for seeker reflexes." _Looking at theball, and then at the children who were standing about ten feet away from him, Harry held out the ball for them to take.

"Scared little bunch, aren't they?" Tagger asked lazily. The children were looking at him uncertainly; as if afraid he would snap at them if they came too close. One girl, however, walked over carefully.

Harry watched her for a second, and then glanced over at the group of parents who were watching the scene. Deciding to save everyone the trouble, Harry just tossed the ball to the girl, got up, dusted himself off, and started to make his way out of the park.

Harry only stopped when he felt a little pull on his pants. Looking down, Harry noticed it was the little girl who went to get the ball. She only looked to be about eight years old. "You have pretty drawings," she said shyly.

Blinking, Harry said softly, "Thank you. What's your name?"

The girl grinned happily. "My name is Jenny, but you can just call me Jen."

Harry chuckled but still eyed the adults. "Well, Jen, what can I do for you?"

"Um, well, I was kinda dared to ask you a question. Did you really kill the guy who picks up the milk bottles?"

Harry blinked. "Uh, no I haven't. And I have never killed anyone before and I really don't plan on killing anyone anytime soon," Harry said with a wink.

Jen giggled. "Sorry, but everyone said you've done all these bad things and I wasn't sure what to believe."

Not really sure what to say, Harry just nodded. "Well, I'm glad I cleared up that question. Anymore, and I'm sure the answer is no. I haven't done anything that you have probably heard before."

"So you didn't come from the moon just so you could just cause trouble? Cause that's what Dudley say's but he's really mean."

Harry laughed loudly, causing the other kids to tense. "I'm not from the moon and I'm not here to cause trouble. Although, I was planning on doing a few pranks to Dudley before I head back to school."

"Don't you go to St. Brutus or something?"

"Nah, private school out of the country."

Jen nodded, sagely before grinning brightly. "Can you draw us some pictures? Pleeeease?"

"Uh, I'm not sure. I mean, I don't know if your parents would want you near me and I'm not really a good drawer." Harry eyed the parents, eyes wary.

"Oh, Harry! So modest," Tagger joked.

Harry sent a small glare but Jen wasn't paying attention. Instead, she was calling out to her friends. They came over cautiously but when Jen told them Harry drew the 'pretty' picture on the ground and that he would draw for them they immediately came over.

Feeling a little uncomfortable, Harry tried to answer all the questions that he was asked calmly. Most were a no. They basically had to do if he really was a criminal or not. Very uncomfortable, Harry changed the subject to trying to draw them something.

He could hear some of the adults saying, "Isn't that the little brat the Dursley's are raising?" and "Yes, but I've never really seen him do anything to make him a criminal." Another said, "Let's give him a chance." The last was, "I still don't trust him. Vernon is a good man. I don't trust the brat."

Harry turned his attention back to the kids. "How about a dragon?"

The group immediately agreed and Harry did his best to draw a dragon. Still watching the parents a little apprehensively, Harry got started on a Hungarian Horntail. Voices everywhere, Harry enjoyed the compliments he was receiving and drew it quickly so he could get started on a new picture.

Pretty soon, Harry was receiving suggestions, comments, and all kinds of questions. His favorite was from a little boy named Mitch.

"Are you sure you as aren't crazy as they say, Harry? Cause you got a good but crazy imagination!"

Laughing, Tagger said, "He's right Harry. Some of the things you dream, it makes me wonder…"

Chuckling, Harry drew for the children until it started to get dark. Soon all the parents came and picked up their children, each giving him kind but calculating looks. Each had heard what Harry had done for the kids and were starting to have second thoughts about the boy.

Harry didn't really understand why he was getting thank you's, since all he did was draw on the cement.

"You're pretty daft, Harry," Tagger commented.

Harry scowled but threw Tagger an amused grin. "Today was pretty interesting. I've never done that before."

Tagger nodded. "Yea, whatever. You gotta get home! I want you up early. I'm gonna have you work out and be in shape!"

Groaning slightly, Harry reluctantly agreed and started to get up. About to sit up, Harry grabbed his face in pain. His nose hurt like hell. _"What…what's wrong with me?"_

"Relax, Harry," Tagger soothed.

Harry clutched his nose in agony for a few more seconds before the pain finally left. "My nose, ah gosh, it hurts."

"Get used to your new sense of smell, Harry! Cause it's gonna _stink_ if you don't," Tagger called cheerfully.

Hissing, Harry smelled the area around him. He could smell waaay too many things. He could barely tell what each thing was. "This is weird."

"All a part of transforming. It looks like you even got a few dragon instincts with that new nose of yours."

"I did?"

"Yep, remember? You hissed at me."

Blinking in comprehension, Harry remembered he did. "So…what? I can hiss and growl now?"

"I dunno. Try growling at me."

"Um, ok." Baring his teeth, Harry made a raspy noise with his throat. It sounded like a cat was dying.

"Hahaha! What kind of growl is that? Ooooh, I'm really scared now Harry! Guess you didn't get growling but at least you got a nice pair of fangs."

I have WHAT?!" Quickly feeling his teeth with a finger, Harry realized with dread, he really did have fangs. Either that, or really sharp teeth.

"Now that that's settled, let's go home." Tagger started to float away.

Harry followed. _"He sure is quick to boss me around and be ok with what's happening to me. I guess he would be since he'll be my animagus form." _Jogging to catch up, Harry turned a corner, taking the short cut through the alley.

"C'mon, slowpoke. You might want to get home soon," Tagger said.

"Why's that?"

"Because it's getting dark."

Harry scowled. "I can take care of myself."

"…"

Really annoyed, Harry glared at Tagger. "My own inner animal doesn't even believe in me? Aren't you also me?"

"Half and half. I am and will always be apart of you. However, I will always be me. I have a life and it could have been or will be taken away after you complete your transformation."

Harry walked silently, thinking. "I would never get rid of you, Tagger. I've only known you for a day but I feel like I've known you forever now that I think about it. I promise you, you will never have to go away," Harry said sincerely.

Tagger gave him a full out grin. "Knew ya couldn't survive without me. You'd probably get too bored. You are pretty boring, Harry."

Harry chuckled, amusement and mischief in his once dull green eyes. They used to be blank, full of worry, but now thanks to Tagger, they were alive. Harry was pretty sure everything was going to be alright from now on.

"Oh, by the way." Or maybe not. "You're gonna experience pain in your ass in 3…2…1."

"Wha-ahhh!" Harry fell to the ground. Harry felt pain coming from his lower back. The sensation from earlier came back, his bones growing and changing. Harry was suddenly very thankful being in an alley.

The pain finally gone, Harry got to his feet, although a bit wobbly at first. Groaning, Harry turned his head so he could see his back. Eyes wide Harry gasped. "What the?! I got a stinkin tail? Now?!"

"Yep!" Tagger cheered. "You can now prove to everyone that you really do have a stick up your butt when you're angry."

Ignoring the comment, Harry inspected his new tail. _"Did this have to happen now? I knew I would have to transform but… I guess I didn't really think about it. Oh well, at least it's really neat looking and my pants didn't actually break, just left a hole for the tail."_

Harry's tail had dark, black scales, both top and bottom. It was really only scaly, no spikes or anything. The tail was spaded, just like Tagger's. Harry waved it. _"Very agile. Good for knocking opponents away from my territory. …Wait? Territory? When did I start thinking like that?" _Harry turned to Tagger and guessed it was from the dragon instincts.

Tagger yawned and looked at Harry. "C'mon, chibi, lets go."

"I thought I told you not to call me that," Harry said with a grin and ran home the rest of the way, eager to get there fast so no one would see. Strangely, he didn't feel anything as he was starting to transform. It just felt _right._

Ten minutes later, Harry had come across a problem. It was dark, the front door was locked, and he had no idea how he could get to his window.

Tagger mock scowled at Harry. "I told you to jump."

"All the way up there? And how will I do that?"

"Take a running start; quickly hop on all fours and then leap like a frog."

"…Like a frog?"

"Yes, Harry, like a frog. Or maybe a cat."

Shaking his head, Harry complied. Checking to make sure his bandana was secure around his forehead and his backpack on tight enough, Harry ran forward, did as he was told and jumped from all fours.

Tagger stared wide eyed as Harry jumped, almost making it but instead hit face first into the wall. It was small at first. Then it became outright loud laughing. "That was hilarious, Harry! Do it again. You really are good entertainment."

Growling loudly, Harry scooted back before pausing in mid step. "What's wrong?" Tagger asked.

"Hey! I just got growling right." Harry beamed up at Tagger, obviously very pleased with himself. "I didn't feel any pain either."

"Not everything will be painful. Just the important things like a snout, the removal of a few fingers and, oh let's not forget, wings!"

"When will I get wings?" Harry asked, excitement nearly blowing off him.

"Not sure, now get up to that window!"

This time, with more vigor, Harry ran and jumped as high as he could. This time he really did make it but nearly fell backwards and out the window. "Guess I need practice."

"It's ok. You'll get your practice soon enough."

Hopping inside 'his' room, Harry walked over to the owlets, Hedwig was there as well. "Hey girl, how was the flight."

Hedwig hooted softly and held out her leg. A single note was attached. Harry noticed Dumbledore's writing and ripped it open.

_Harry,_

_I thank you for the information you have given me. I must think on this. I do not yet have a name for the manacles you spoke of. Keep in touch,_

_Dumbledore._

_P.S. Please send Hedwig right away saying if you would rather go to Hogwarts immediately or go to where your friends are._

Harry stared at the letter. He was once again given no information. Frowning at the last bit, Harry grabbed a quill and wrote,

_Of course I'll go where Ron and Hermione are._

_HP_

As if he wouldn't go see his friends. "Up for another fly, girl? Sorry that you have to leave right away."

Hedwig only clicked her beak, grabbed the letter and flew off through the open window.

Sighing Harry glanced down at the three…no, wait. There were only two owlets! Quickly falling to hi knees, Harry searched under his dresser and around his bed.

"Tagger I can't find Padfoot!" Harry even looked under the loose floorboards. _"Where is he?"_

Tagger's laughter made Harry look at the small dragon. "Look a bit higher."

Harry looked up. _"I don't see him, and Padfoot can't fly yet." _Harry looked at the walls and finally came across his dresser. Eyes narrowed, Harry could make out Padfoot among his many clothes. "Padfoot, how did you get up there?"

Padfoot only hooted happily and jumped onto Harry's out stretched arm. Grinning, Harry put Padfoot onto his bed. Taking off his backpack, Harry made his way to the other owlets, but ended up tripping on the way there.

Glaring at his tail in annoyance, Harry attempted to 'move it' out of the way. "The heck? It has a mind of its own!"

"Instincts, Harry. Tense up, control it." Harry tried, he really did, but he just couldn't get moving his tail right. "That'll be another thing we'll work on tomorrow."

Harry nodded, unhappy that he couldn't even get tail waging right. Harry looked back at the other two owlets and noticed them falling back asleep. _"They get tired really easily. What do they do all day anyway? Padfoot probably playing too much for them."_

Harry turned back to his bag and opened up a pocket, grabbing the newspaper from earlier, Harry read it quickly, snorted, and then began to rip some of the paper.

"Bad paper, chibi?" Tagger asked, dragon grin in place.

"I can see that you aren't going to stop calling me that." There was no annoyance in his voice as Harry ripped another piece of newspaper.

"Nope."

Stifling a small smile, Harry opened up another pocket and put the bits of newspaper in it. Padfoot hopped over, curious. "Heh, that's for you and the others," Harry told Padfoot. "Just in case."

Padfoot hooted and jumped into the pocket. Giving one more hoot, Padfoot inspected the 'room' Harry had prepared for him and the other owlets.

Harry put a few of the prank items Fred and George gave him in his backpack.

Harry walked to his bedroom door and opened it quietly, there was no noise. Glancing at the clock, Harry realized it was a little late. Guessing the meeting went alright, Harry walked towards his bed before freezing, his nose working on overdrive.

He could smell… something. Something was not right. All instincts told him to run. "I can feel it too, Harry," Tagger said, very serious.

Harry narrowed his eyes. Why did he suddenly feel this way? He was tense, as if ready for a fight. But Dumbledore said he would be ok, right? Harry walked over to Padfoot and noticed the owl still inspecting the pocket.

Carefully lifting the bag, Harry peered at it. Was something wrong with the bag? No, couldn't be. He was with it all day. Carefully putting it on the floor, Harry went to the window and jumped out. Landing quietly, Harry scanned his surroundings, looking for anything.

Swoosh.

Harry's head jerked. His eyes widened as he saw a figure, dressed in a black robe and white mask. He was thanking Merlin for his new eyes. He could see a bit better at night than ordinary people could.

Glancing around, Harry saw every bush, every tree, every Death Eater. He was surrounded.

"We need to go," Tagger hissed.

Harry nodded. He needed to write a letter, and fast! But how? Hedwig was gone. The owlets…_ "The owlets! Something's wrong right now." _Harry didn't know why or how, but he knew something wasn't right in the house. _"Of course not, Death Eater's are here. But…I should be safe…right?"_

Harry quickly jumped back to his window, better than the last time and Harry was very thankful for that. Jumping into his room, Harry searched around, looking for anything.

His scar was starting to sting. _"This cannot be happening! There's no way Voldemort could be here."_

Harry wrenched the door open and took three steps out before he was hit with a curse and sent flying into the wall in his room.Dazed, Harry looked up and his eyes widened. There was no way _he_ could be here. But he was. And there he was.

Voldemort strode in, wand pointing at Harry's heart. "Don't do anything foolish, Potter. I have Death Eaters around the house. There is no escape."

Harry felt a shiver go up his spine. "But the blood wards! Dumbledore said—"

"Ah, yes, the blood wards," Voldemort cut Harry off. "Did that muggle loving fool really think I wouldn't find a way in? I have your blood!"

Harry got to his feet slowly, wary of the wand that was pointed at him. He dared not take his wand out of his pocket. Staring into Voldemort's eyes, Harry asked, "How did you make my scar not hurt?"

Voldemort had an amused expression on his face. Harry doubted anyone ever talked to him like this when they were at wand point from him. "I have ways, Potter."

Harry snorted but immediately regretted it when he felt three stings hit his chest. Grimacing, Harry could feel blood on his chest. Looking at Voldemort's wand, Harry saw a reddish whip like light producing from the end. _"Bastard whipped me."_

"I would show more respect, Potter," Voldemort sneered.

Harry narrowed his eyes. "What about the Dursley's? What did you do to them?"

Voldemort smirked. "My Death Eater's are having a little fun with them."

Harry's blood ran cold. Sure he didn't like the Dursley's, but that didn't mean he wanted them to go through the type torture Death Eater's put people through.

Voldemort eyed Harry, almost longingly. Harry shivered at the look. He really did not want to know what kind of torture Voldemort had planned for him. That wouldn't happen. Dumbledore would come, right? He'd be safe…right? Wouldn't anyone come?

"And another thing, Harry, my Death Eaters will stop anyone from getting in. It doesn't matter; no one even knows we're here. You aren't going anywhere."

"So…no one knows you're here?" Harry asked, hope vanishing. He really hoped Voldemort couldn't see in the dark as well as he could. Maybe he could get away; his room light was shut off.

Voldemort, as if reading his thoughts, said, "And don't even think about running, I can see perfectly fine in the dark."

Harry blinked. "…Shit."


	2. Voldemort

"Blah" –talking

"_Blah" –thinking_

"_Blah" _–curses (curses will always be said out loud unless I say otherwise.)

Here is the next chapter! Please review other wise I'll stop writing and feel dejected. Joking!

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_Voldemort eyed Harry, almost longingly. Harry shivered at the look. He really did not want to know what kind of torture Voldemort had planned for him. That wouldn't happen. Dumbledore would come, right? He'd be safe…right? Wouldn't anyone come?_

"_And another thing, Harry, my Death Eaters will stop anyone from getting in. It doesn't matter; no one even knows we're here. You aren't going anywhere."_

"_So…no one knows you're here?" Harry asked, hope vanishing. He really hoped Voldemort couldn't see in the dark as well as he could. Maybe he could get away; his room light was shut off._

_Voldemort, as if reading his thoughts, said, "And don't even think about running, I can see perfectly fine in the dark."_

_Harry blinked. "…Shit."_

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Voldemort smirked at his prey. It was so simple, not even worth batting an eye lash. Had he perhaps overestimated Dumbledore? It didn't matter, he had the boy and nothing would stand in his way.

Eyeing _his_, oh yes, his prey, Voldemort fingered his wand. No one else could have him. The brat had stopped him one too many times from gaining power and he intended to get his revenge on Harry. If someone else had killed him, you most certainly would not want to be that person.

Harry's eyes flickered to the two owls. It was interesting how the boy cared more for the birds than his own relatives, if you could call them that. Voldemort knew exactly how Harry felt towards the Dursley's and intended to use that against him. They would be the boys' first kill. That was why they weren't dead… yet.

Harry seemed to have gotten over his initial shock and narrowed his eyes at Voldemort. "So now what, Tom? You just gonna stand there and stare at me? I would prefer if you didn't, I don't like staring at ugly for too long and you seem to fit that description."

To his amazement, Voldemort began to laugh. There was no humor, just a cold, vicious laugh that promised much pain. Voldemort stopped laughing and raised his wand. "_Crucio_." Before Harry could even react, he was hit with a huge wave of pain.

Hot knives and needles dug into his very skin, burning, ripping, and poking. Harry wouldn't allow himself to scream.

Voldemort lifted the curse and narrowed his eyes. "I told you to watch your manners, boy." Harry bristled. He hated being called boy. Harry twitched slightly on the ground. When had he even fallen?

Harry shook his, trying to clear his view. "Do something, Harry!" Tagger called. "Get the owlets and run. You can't stay here." Tagger knew Harry could do nothing at this point, but it was still worth trying to encourage him.

Harry glared up at the man…no, thing that was towering over him "Don't call me a boy," Harry hissed.

Voldemort smirked, having already made Harry mad. He knew just how to press the right buttons. "Then which would you prefer, Harry? Boy or freak?"

Harry flinched at the nickname his relatives had given him. "DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Harry roared. He wasn't a freak. He had friends who loved him and…and what else did he have? He certainly didn't have a family to take him in or anything of the kind.

Voldemort's face grew cold and he flicked his wand. Chains sprang from the rug and wrapped around Harry, pushing him to the ground. Harry struggled against the chains but it just pushed him into the ground even more, cutting off his air.

Voldemort kneeled and looked Harry in the eye. Harry stared back defiantly. "Yes, I think freak compliments you best now," Voldemort said.

"You're calling _me_ a freak? Have you looked in a mirror, Tom?" Harry asked, looking away as if the sight would actually make him sick. Personally, Harry didn't know how Death Eaters could stand looking into Voldemort's face all the time.

Voldemort grabbed Harry's chin and forced him to look at him. "What is happening to you, Harry?" Voldemort turned Harry's head a little to the left. "You have many changes." Now Voldemort smirked at Harry's new tail. "A tail? I can only assume were trying to turn into your animagus form before I decided to come over for a little visit."

Harry stayed silent and tried not to fidget as his scar began to prickle. Harry eyed Tagger and was a bit comforted by the sight of the small dragon.

"However," Voldemort continued with his inspection, "I must say the eyes are the most interesting change."

Harry blinked. "My eyes changed?" When had that happened? Harry tried to jerk his head out of Voldemorts grip but it was too firm.

"Yes, they are slitted, very snake like." Voldemort smirked at Harry's look of repulse. Voldemort let go of Harry's chin and got up. "You will make a very fine pet."

Harry's eyes widened. "I'm not your pet! And how about you let me out of these chains? Or are you too afraid of me?"

"That's it, Harry! Show him who's the boss! Tell him you're not scared," Tagger cheered.

Voldemort sent another Crucio at Harry. Screaming, Harry let his head hit the carpet. Panting, Harry raised his head again and stared as Voldemort walked toward the owlets. "Leave them alone," Harry hissed, eyes watering from the after effects of Crucio.

"Why, Harry? Are you afraid I might do this? _Avada Kedavra_!"

"NO!" Harry struggled against the bonds, tears falling as he watched Penny drop dead. "No, no, no, no." Harry muttered to himself.

"Stop throwing a fit, Harry. It's very unbecoming."

Harry glared at Voldemort. "She was my family. You know it's that thing where someone shows compassion to another. Sorry if you didn't know that."

"Now, now, Harry," Voldemort scolded, as if to a small child. "I will let you keep the other one if you do something for me."

"I'm not telling you anything about Dumbledore or any of my friends."

"And, my dear boy, this is where you have no choice." Voldemort turned to the hallway and called, "Lucius! Bring them to me."

Harry watched as Lucius Malfoy walked in, smirk in place. He seemed to do that wherever he went. "Here you are, my Lord." Malfoy handed Voldemort a gold bracelet that Harry instantly recognized from the dream he had.

"The Manacle of Rie…something," Harry whispered. His eyes widened as he realized what Voldemort wanted to do and struggled against the chains, once again getting his oxygen supply cut off as he was pushed against the rug roughly.

"I see you know what this is, Harry," Voldemort smiled coldly while Malfoy glared at him. "This just proves my theory."

"What the--" but Harry was cut off as Voldemort waved his wand lazily and the bandana on his forehead slid down and formed a gag in his mouth. Harry shook head, trying to dislodge the piece of cloth.

"Now don't move, Harry." Harry made some muffled sounds at Voldemort and just continued to move even more. He would not let that _thing_ put anything on him and control him!

"_Crucio!_" Harry jerked as the pain hit him. Voldemort even let off a little on the bond he had with Harry's scar and made the pain even more severe. Harry lay limply, breathing deeply on the ground as Voldemort walked closer. "Must you always disobey me, Harry? That will soon change. And Lucius! Shut up that darn bird!"

"Gladly, Master." Malfoy strode toward the screeching Clutz. _"_ _Diffindo!"_ Harry shook uncontrollably as Clutz was easily ripped in half by the curse.

Harry was so busy staring at the dead owlets, tears streaming down his cheeks, that he hadn't realized Voldemort had grabbed his foot and snapped the manacle on his ankle until he heard an audible click. Harry's eyes glowed and he froze.

Voldemort walked in front of Harry and banished the chains. "Get up," Voldemort commanded. Harry got up, took the gag out of his mouth, put it in his pocket and stared at Voldemort blankly, eyes still glowing, making his eyes even greener than ever before.

Voldemort frowned, not expecting this response. "Lucius, bring me Bellatrix, Avery, and Nott. Tell them to bring Harry's _family_ as well."

Malfoy bowed. "Yes, my Lord." And then he left the room.

Voldemort turned back to Harry, who stood still, staring blankly back at him. Circling him, Voldemort waited impatiently for Lucius to bring the others. "What is going through your mind, Potter?" Voldemort whispered as he stared deep into Harry's eyes.

Voldemort surveyed Harry's room as he waited. It was a normal room for a teenager, albeit a small room. It was messy, clothes, books, and parchment everywhere, however, and Voldemort stared, the wall had some burn marks on it.

Footsteps made Voldemort turn around and face his Death Eaters. At their feet lay Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley Dursley. Vernon had a huge amount of cuts and bruises. He was bleeding heavily and it looked like some of his skin had been scraped off.

Petunia had been through only three Crucio's and was mumbling to herself and had her knees against her chest, twitching slightly.

When Voldemort looked at Dudley, his eyes narrowed. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with him. No cuts, bruises, twitching from the Cruciatus Curse, nothing. All he was doing was panting heavily.

Voldemort turned to the Death Eater's. "What did you do to the boy?"

Bellatrix stepped forward, head bowed. "Err, we made him do exercise, my Lord."

There was a long silence.

"You mean to tell me, that my best Death Eaters, who are known for their many different painful torture sessions, could only make the brat _exercise?!" _Voldemort hissed menacingly.

"My Lord, we used the nightmare spell on him to find out his worst nightmare so we could use it on him," Avery said, head bowed so low you couldn't even see his face.

Voldemort's right eye twitched but said nothing more. Instead, giving one last cold look, he turned back to face Harry. The Death Eaters had been to busy with their master to notice Harry there, glowing eyes and blank face.

"Potter, take out your wand," Voldemort commanded.

Harry only looked at him. "Why?"

There was a dead silence. Voldemort narrowed his eyes and lifted his hand. It glowed green and everyone in the room watched as Harry's face showed intense pain but seemed to do nothing else. Lucius Malfoy, however, noticed the manacle on Harry's ankle glow the same sickly green.

Voldemort lowered his hand after a moment, no longer glowing. "Now take out your wand." This time his voice was harsh, no longer teasing or sarcastic.

Slowly, Harry took out his wand. "Good boy," Voldemort praised, as if to an obedient dog. The Death Eaters laughed silently. "Now kill your family."

Harry once again only looked back blankly. "I have no family."

"My mistake, Harry," Voldemort smirked. "Kill the Dursley's. The muggle filth that lay before your feet."

Harry slowly walked over until he was directly above them. His brow furrowed. He held his wand high but said nothing. Voldemort was starting to get impatient and his servants could clearly see that.

"What are you waiting for?" Voldemort's voice dangerous.

Harry looked back; his eyes seemed to stare right through Voldemort instead of actually at him.

"No."

Voldemort raised his hand once more, it glowed that same sickly green. Harry fell to the floor, screaming in pain as the green light went up his leg but stopped at his thigh.

Voldemort turned to his Death Eaters. "I think he needs a bit of persuasion."

Bellatrix gleefully stepped forward. "Let me do it, Master. I will make his punishment worthy of your eyes."

Voldemort stared at her, judging and calculating eyes glowed over her. "Very well."

Bellatrix smiled her sick, sweet smile as she advanced upon Harry. He had gotten to his knees but only stood still as she approached him. "_Crucio!" _Once again, Harry fell to the ground. This time he did not scream but instead twitched silently on the ground.

Bellatrix looked back at her master nervously. "A punishment worthy for my eyes?" Voldemort asked coldly. "Has your power diminished that much in Azkaban?"

"No! Please, my Lo-"

"_Crucio!_" Voldemort cut her off. "I hope that is not the extent of your power. If you can not even cause a child pain with a simple Crucio, what good are you?"

Bellatrix bowed her head. "I will try harder next time, My Lord."

Voldemort eyed her carefully before turning back to Harry. He had gotten up unnoticed and eyed Voldemort blankly. They stared at each other silently until Harry turned his head to the window and spoke softly. "Someone is here."

And sure enough they could hear a battle going on outside. Hex and jinx words could be heard. Voldemort turned to Avery, Malfoy and Nott. "You three go outside and assist the others."

They bowed and left swiftly. Harry, who had been watching silently, stepped forward and cocked his head quizzically. "People will die tonight."

Voldemort ignored the comment and took out his wand. "Now let's see what's going through your head, Potter. I will get to the bottom of this. _Legilimens!_"

(In Harry's mind)

Voldemort seemed to float in pure darkness. The only speck of light ahead of him showed where The-bloody-boy-who-lived-too-many-times-for-his-own-good resided. He was sitting with his knees to his chest, his head buried in his knees and chest.

He was in what looked like a clear, glass box. The only thing that made it look like it was actually there were the runes carved on each side of the glass. Voldemort circled the box, storing this scene away in his mind for future reference in his torture sessions.

"So this is where you are, Harry," Voldemort practically purred.

Harry lifted his head, showing his tear filled eyes. They were full of hate and fear. Strangely, the fear was not directed at Voldemort. He was also very human in here. No animagus changes showed.

"What do you want now, Tom? Isn't it bad enough that you locked me in here? Or was that not your purpose?"

"No, no it was not," Voldemort admitted. "I want you to watch as I make you kill all your little friends; my personal tool, my little pet."

Harry seethed but could do nothing. "Yea? Well that's not gonna happen, Voldie. Tagger doesn't really like you and doesn't appreciate you being in our mind."

Voldemort frowned. "And just who is this Tagger?" Harry smirked and pointed behind Voldemort. Turning around, Voldemort's eyes widened slightly. A thirty foot dragon stood above him, its head reared back, snarling menacingly.

"Leave our mind, Tom!" Tagger snarled. "I will not allow you to hurt us anymore!"

"And just what will you do to stop me, dragon?" Voldemort smirked.

"I will kill you! You will not get Harry. I will protect him."

Voldemort let out a bone chilling laugh. "The boy is mine and no one, not even a dragon, will get in my way! _Avada Kedavra!" _Tagger's eyes widened, not expecting the sudden attack and unable to dodge, was hit full on. Slowly, he faded away into nothingness. As if he was never really there.

Voldemort turned back to Harry. His expression was calm, not really worried that Voldemort had just 'killed' Tagger. "He'll be back… in more numbers," Harry whispered.

"And that is why I will finish my work now," Voldemort told him. "I know how the mind works." Red eyes met green eyes for an instant. "_Avada Kedavra!_" The glass box holding Harry broke into a thousand pieces and Voldemort left Harry's mind.

Voldemort, now back in his body, watched as Harry Potter screamed in pure agony and clutched at his head in pain. Bellatrix still only a few feet away, watched with interest.

Slowly, Harry's once glowing eyes returned to their normal, not glowing green. Eyes widening, Harry scrambled backwards but ended up falling down. Harry panted, staring into Voldemort's cold, red eyes.

A loud cough made Voldemort, Harry, and Bellatrix turn to the forgotten Dursley's. Vernon rasped, "Just take the freak and leave my family alone. I don't want any of your kind in my house. What did you do to my family?!"

"Keep silent you filthy muggle! _Crucio!" _Bellatrixlaughed madly as she hit him with Cruciatus Curse.

"Not even your own relatives want you, Harry. Just say you give up because I so want to hear you utter those words," Voldemort hissed.

Harry stood up and glared. "That's not exactly news to me, Tom. And I will never give into you!"

Voldemort lifted his hand, it glowed that same sickly green color from earlier. Harry's face became pale as he once again fell to the floor in pain. He seemed to be on the ground a lot that night.

When Voldemort stopped, this time it was a small hoot that made everyone's attention turn elsewhere. They were staring at Harry's bag. A small, feathery head poked out of one of the pockets. "Padfoot!" Harry cried out. He had completely forgotten about the last owlet.

Voldemort moved toward the bag but Harry jumped forward. Voldemort grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him away. "What is he worth, Harry? It's your owl or the Dursley's. It's your choice, Harry, and you don't have much time."

Harry shivered slightly. How could he choose? Padfoot was, after all, only an owl. But Padfoot was family. The Dursley's, well they gave him a home, no matter how much they didn't want to.

"What the hell are you waiting for, boy!?" Vernon yelled. "Pick us and then get out of my house with your freaky friends! You'll pay for what you did to my family!"

He was about to say something else but he was once again hit with the Cruciatus curse and was left unconscious; a panting Dudley and whimpering Petunia lay next to him.

Harry closed his eyes as he felt his scar prickle. Taking a deep breath, Harry opened his eyes and looked Voldemort in the eye. Before he could say anything, however, the door burst open and a small, shaking figure ran into the room.

"YOU!" Harry snarled and attempted to leap at the frightened Wormtail but Voldemort didn't relinquish his grip and sent Harry to his knees with another dose of pain from the manacle. Letting go, Voldemort turned to Wormtail.

"What is it, Wormtail? And this better be good."

Wormtail shivered at the sound of his masters' tone. "My Lord, we cannot continue the battle. The auror's are winning and will be here soon!"

Voldemort cursed inwardly. "No doubt that muggle loving fool, Dumbledore is here." At Wormtail's nod, Voldemort glared at Bellatrix. She had been giving Dudley occasional curse or jinx every now and then. "Bellatrix! Alert the others. Any stragglers and they will be personally dealt with by me." Bellatrix bowed and left as soon as possible. She knew that also counted for her.

Voldemort turned back to Harry, ready to grab the boy. Harry, however, was backing away, black backpack with Padfoot inside clutched tightly to his chest, eyes darting toward the window. His pale features showing how nervous he really was.

"Don't move, Harry," Voldemort commanded. Harry stopped and his eyes widened as felt his body stop on its own accord. "Now come here."

This time Harry shook his head. "Not a chance in hell, Tom." And he darted to the window to the window to only feel something grab his foot and drag him back. Looking back, Harry saw Voldemort had his wand raised, with an amused expression on his face, was controlling the chain to drag Harry back to him.

Harry fell to the ground, determined to let his weight be too heavy. It didn't matter, and for the first time, Harry felt a huge surge of panic. What would Voldemort make Harry do with the manacle things? What would Voldemort do to him? He knew Voldemort was teasing him, humiliating him just because he could.

"_No, no, no, no," _Harry thought._ "Leave, leave, I need to leave. Escape, need to get out." _Harry was now shaking his head frantically.

Tagger was watching the whole thing, worry in his eyes. _"Idiot boy is about to accidentally splinch himself! Sorry, Harry!" _Tagger quickly flew to Harry and bit him on the arm. Harry opened his eyes in surprise and saw the room disperse in many bright colors and he felt a strange swirling feeling in his stomach. He swore that at the last moment, he saw a smug grin on Voldemorts face before disappearing.

Blinking warily, Harry noticed that he no longer had a chain on his foot and he was in a dark alley. Quickly jumping up, Harry searched for any sign of Voldemort_. "What happened?! What did I do? Where is Voldemort?"_ Harry paced back and forth in panic.

"Harry, calm down," Tagger said.

"Calm down? How can I CALM DOWN!?" Harry shouted, his hands pulling at his hair. "I've just been attacked in my own home, the Dursley's have been tortured, I have this thing strapped to my ankle, and a mad man wants to kill me!"

"Got any other complaints?" Tagger asked cheekily.

Harry glared. "How about that little fact that I have no idea where I am and how I got here?"

"Oh, well I don't know where we are but I do know how we got here."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Tagger nodded in a sage like manner but it was completely ruined by the huge dragon grin that appeared. "My dear Harry, you really are a strange one." Harry's eye twitched. "An almost fifteen year old still doing accidental magic? That definitely is strange. But when has anything ever been normal for you?"

Harry frowned. "What's wrong with doing accidental magic? I always thought people could do it, despite whatever age they are."

"No, when a person matures and reaches a certain age, then they stop. Perhaps you just aren't matured enough?" Tagger had a full out grin and Harry blushed.

"Well what about the age thing?" Harry asked, determined to move to another topic. "And you still haven't answered my question."

"Eh, well when one gets to a certain age that means their magic has stopped growing. Only now will they have to work on it to become stronger. Oh, and as for your question, you used accidental magic to dissaparate yourself. You were actually about to splinch yourself right then and there. That's why I had to help speed up a little transformation."

Harry rubbed his shoulder and suddenly froze. His skin felt dry and bumpy. Lifting his shirt sleeve all the way up, Harry took a better look at his shoulder and gasped. His entire shoulder was covered in black scales. There were a few dark green scales mixed in but to Harry's relief, there were no spikes.

Harry quickly checked his other shoulder and noticed the same thing had happened. Sighing, Harry turned back to Tagger. "What now?"

"Well, I suggest we find out where we are."

Harry nodded and looked at Padfoot who was still poking its head out. Sadness overtook Harry and he fell to his knees, hands pulling at his hair. "Penny, Clutz… they're dead. And… and oh Merlin."

Harry shook violently as he held back his tears. Tagger took that moment to fly directly in his face. "Listen to me, there's nothing you can do now. Penny and Clutz are dead and there's nothing that can bring them back. You need to forget them right now and take of yourself. Don't forget you still have Padfoot."

Harry nodded, his eyes hardening. He had to be strong and get help. He needed to survive and freaking out was not the right answer. "Let's go." And with that, Harry walked down the pitch black alley and was thankful for it being so late.

- - - - -

Miles away, Albus Dumbledore stood tall and silent, Arthur Weasely, and Remus Lupin by his side. They were standing in Harry's room and surveying the damage. His room was a mess but it wasn't…destroyed.

It actually looked like any teens room. Messy, clothes all over, the usual. The only problem was some of the broken objects scattered around the room. The bed was in shambles, a bit of blood was on the floor and there were a few scorch marks on the wall. The most noticeable, and horrifying to Arthur and Remus, was the chain on the floor.

Arthur sighed and turned to Albus and Remus. "What do you think, Albus?"

Dumbledore pondered for a moment, his usually twinkling eyes dull. "I cannot be certain of the exact happenings here tonight. I can only hope that Harry is not in Voldemorts grasp."

Both Remus and Arthur gasped. "Albus, you can't be certain," Arthur said.

Remus glared at the ground. "I can smell _his _scent. I can smell Wormtail's. He was here and now Harry is gone!" Remus fell to the ground in a sob. "What will Sirius think when he finds out Harry is gone?"

Arthur did a better job keeping back his tears. He could, however, not keep the huge amount of grief he felt leave. Harry was like a son to him. The little odd ball of the family, with his messy black hair mixed in with all that red.

Dumbledore, who was busy muttering under breath and waving his wand ever now and then, let off a victorious, "Aha! Well done, my boy."

This got both Arthur's and Remus's attention. "What is it?!" They both asked at the same time.

Dumbledore smiled but he still had that grim look in his eye. "I was casting some spells to try and help me determine what has happened here tonight. I was able to discover that accidental magic has been performed."

Arthur and Remus stood still, waiting breathlessly for him to continue.

"The accidental magic that Mr. Potter has done tonight was apparation."

The two men gasped. "But Albus!" Arthur almost shouted. "Harry isn't even fifteen. How could he have done that? Especially with no training."

Remus broke in to laugh. He wasn't sure if it was a laugh of joy or relief. "Nothing has ever been normal for Harry. I'd say Harry was frightened and only wanted a means of escape."

"But, Remus," Arthur started a little hesitatingly. "Accidental magic is supposed to stop at age twelve. Highest is thirteen and stops almost immediately after their birthday. Harry, who is fourteen and is almost fifteen, can still do accidental magic!"

Dumbledore 'hmmed' for a moment. "This is worth thinking. For now, I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing. It seems as if Harry's magic is still growing. This has only ever happened to one other student of mine and I am unsure of the consequences that might happen to Mr. Potter."

Dumbledore didn't need to say who that other student was. Arthur and Remus knew who he was talking about.

Humming once more, Dumbledore raised his wand. "Let us see what happened. Shall we gentlemen? _Temporis!" _

- - - - - -

Hermione paced the room anxiously. Ron and Ginny were watching her from their spots on a very old looking couch.

"Hermione, sit down before you make a hole in the ground with all that pacing," Ron grumbled.

Hermion's head snapped at Ron in such anger that he almost fell off his seat. "How can you say that Ron? Harry's house has been attacked and here we are, just sitting around and drinking tea while Harry could be hurt!"

Ron got up from his seat, his face hard. "I know that, Hermione. I'm worried too and I keep wondering if he's dead or not! Dammit, Hermione! I have to sit here and wonder if my best friend is even alive!"

Hermione took a step back, her head bowed. "I'm sorry, Ron. I didn't mean it like that. Its… Its just that I'm worried about my brother."

Ron nodded while Ginny got up. "I'm sure Harry's alright, Hermione. We both know how stubborn he is."

Hermione smiled. "I hope you're right."

Ginny, face firm, said, "I know I'm right, Hermione. He's gotten out of bigger jams than this."

Hermione nodded and hugged Ginny tightly. Both cried silently as they thought of Harry. Ron could only shake his head and hope gets his arse over here so he wouldn't have to deal with any strange, girl emotions.

- - - - - -

Sirius was in a foul mood. No, he was just pissed off beyond all belief. His godson was attacked. What if Voldemort had him? What would that monster to do him?

Sirius paced around and glared at several people as if it were their fault. He was currently in the kitchen of his old home, Grimmauld's place. A woman with spiky purple hair glared back at Sirius.

"Sirius, calm down. I'm sure Harry is fine. If the kid has really done all the stuff you've said he's done, then he's coming back alive and well."

Sirius sighed. "I know, Tonks, I know. Dumbledore will probably bring back Harry any second but I'm just so mad that he didn't let me go with him. I mean, c'mon, he's my godson for Merlin's sake!"

Tonks patted his arm reassuringly. "Hang in there, Sirius. We have aurors at his house right now searching for him. And you know that's one of the main reasons you can't go!"

"I would behave!" Tonks only raised an eyebrow. "I'm serious!"

"Are you sure you can even be serious, Sirius?" Tonks said with a grin.

Sirius scowled but cracked half a smile. "Of course. Harry means everything to me and I would even go through the torture of being serious."

Tonks laughed. "Well, just to make you feel better, I'll head down right now and see what's up."

"Would you?" Sirius practically begged. "Thank you so much, Tonks."

Tonks waved her hand, waving it off. "Yea, yea, you owe me one."

Sirius grinned. "Of course, Nymphadora."

Tonks scowled. "I told you not to call me that."

"I know, but it's so much fun!"

Still scowling, Tonks headed for the door but paused half way there. "Oh, one more thing, Sirius."

"What is it?"

"Purple or Pink?"

The only response she got was some dog like laughter.

- - - - - -

Here's the second chapter. I changed it a bit and added some new stuff. Plz review and tell me how you liked it!


	3. running and planning

"Blah" –talking

"_Blah" –thinking_

"_Blah" _–curses (curses will always be said out loud unless I say otherwise.)

'_Blah' –parseltongue _

- - - - - - -

_Remus broke in with a laugh. He wasn't sure if it was a laugh of joy or relief. "Nothing has ever been normal for Harry. I'd say Harry was frightened and only wanted a means of escape."_

"_But, Remus," Arthur started a little hesitatingly. "Accidental magic is supposed to stop at age twelve. Highest is thirteen and stopped almost immediately after their birthday. Harry, who is fourteen and is almost fifteen, can still do accidental magic!"_

_Dumbledore 'hmmed' for a moment. "This is worth thinking. For now, I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing. It seems as if Harry's magic is still growing. This has only ever happened to one other student of mine and I am unsure of the consequences that might happen to Mr. Potter."_

_Dumbledore didn't need to say who that other student was. Arthur and Remus knew who he was talking about._

_Humming once more, Dumbledore raised his wand. "Let us see what happened. Shall we gentlemen? Temporis!" _

_- - -------------------------- - - - - - -- - - - - -_

Both Mr. Weasely and Remus blinked several times as the room lit up brightly for a moment before several ghost like figures appeared. Remus let off a small yelp of surprise and jumped out of the way. He had been standing directly in front of Voldemort.

Dumbledore just stayed calm as he watched the scene unfold. The 'ghost play' was at the part where Harry was just chained to the ground and Voldemort was looking over him.

_Voldemort kneeled and looked Harry in the eye. Harry stared back defiantly. "Yes, I think freak compliments you best now," Voldemort said._

"_You're calling me a freak? Have you looked in a mirror, Tom?" Harry asked, looking away, as if the sight would actually make him sick. Personally, Harry didn't know how Death Eaters could stand looking into Voldemort's face all the time._

_Voldemort grabbed Harry's chin and forced him to look at him. "What is happening to you, Harry?" Voldemort turned Harry's head a little to the left. "You have many changes." Now Voldemort smirked at Harry's new tail. "A tail? I can only assume were trying to turn into your animagus form before I decided to come over for a little visit."_

Remus growled, his wolf instincts taking over. How dare that man do this to Harry! And an animagus? Sirius would be so proud.

Mr. Weasely shivered, fear evident on his face. Why on earth had they allowed this to happen? Were they not supposed to protect Harry? They had failed and Harry was paying the price.

Dumbledore stared silently for a moment before saying, "Stop." The scene froze and Dumbledore walked over to Harry and knelt by him. The other two followed him.

Remus raised both his eyebrows in surprise. Mr. Weasely just gapped.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Well, I have never seen a soon to be animagus with a tail like that before."

"Albus," Mr. Weasely said after a long moment of silence. "I think that's a dragon tail. When Charlie was younger, he showed me a book on dragons. It had different types of wings, claws, and tails. This looks a lot like a dragon tail."

"Do you know which one?" Dumbledore asked.

Mr. Weasely shook his head. "No, but I'm positive it's a dragon tail."

Dumbledore sighed. "If it is indeed true, Harry will have thrown away all my theories."

Remus looked confused. "And why is that?"

"Because, Remus, a human should not be able to transform into a magical creature of that magnitude. Even small magical creatures, such as kneazels, are very rare. The human body should just not be able to handle it."

Mr. Weasely and Remus shared a look. When had Harry ever played by the rules?

Remus frowned suddenly. "Aren't you supposed to turn into the full bodied animal when you try transforming?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "Remus, your best friends were animagus's and you don't know how the transformation works?"

"I wasn't there when they practiced," Remus grumbled. "It was always on full moons."

Mr. Weasely decided to add in a bit of his own knowledge. "When a person learns to transform, they take it bit by bit. A paw or perhaps a wing. They stick with that for a while; transform their hand or leg, whichever was transformed, back to the human shape. Then you are supposed to wait a while to let your body adjust and take it slowly."

"I always wondered why it took people a while to transform. Do you think Harry will know what to do?" Remus asked worriedly.

"Dumbledore only 'hmmed' once more and turned back to the ghost like figures. "Play." The figures moved once more.

_Harry stayed silent and tried not to fidget as his scar began to prickle. Harry eyed Tagger and was a bit comforted by the sight of the small dragon._

"Pause!" Dumbledore said sharply.

"What is it?" Remus asked, having no idea why Dumbledore paused it this time.

Dumbledore didn't answer but instead said, "Rewind…pause." Mr. Weasely shot the two a confused look. He had no idea what was going on but paid close attention. "Play."

They watched the scene start over. Once again, Dumbledore said, "Pause."

Remus sighed. "I'm sorry Headmaster, but I do not see what you see."

"Look closely at his eyes, Remus," Dumbledore said, peering at them himself.

"He doesn't have his glasses on?" Mr. Weasely guessed.

"Well, there is that," Dumbledore said with a chuckle. "But that is not what I mean. Take a look at where he is staring at."

Mr. Weasely and Remus tried to get close enough without actually being 'near' Voldemort. Mr. Weasely's eyes narrowed. "He isn't looking at You-know-who."

"Indeed," Dumbledore nodded, deep in thought. "And as you can see," he gestured at the room. "Nobody else is here, except Lucius Malfoy of course." The two men looked back at the forgotten Malfoy.

"Perhaps he is looking for a way to escape," Remus suggested.

Dumbledore sighed tiredly. "Perhaps, perhaps not."

"Do you think he's looking at something only he can see or not see?" Mr. Weasely asked. "He isn't wearing his glasses, and we all know how blind Harry can be without them."

Remus smiled. "Yes, blind as a bat, just like his father."

"Indeed," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. He turned back to the scene. "Play."

- - - - - - - - -

Harry sighed tiredly as he hefted himself out of a pipe. (Not a small one, sewage sized pipes.) Morning had come and he had spent most of the night just looking for a safe place to stay without anyone seeing him. Shivering slightly, Harry wrapped the large coat he had found in a dumpster around him.

It managed to cover him up so no one could see any of his animagus changes. He did, however, have to wrap his tail twice around his waist and it was a little uncomfortable. The scales on his shoulders had gone all the way down to his elbows and, much to his annoyance, they itched like crazy. Each elbow had a hard, one inch spike.

He wasn't exactly sure where he was but he knew he was near a type of sewage area. He was surrounded by apartments and was in an alley way. A small river flowed a little ways off. Harry could see the water entering some pipes to some underground area or probably off to the ocean.

Harry stretched, feeling his back crack; Harry took out the flask he had bought from the old pawn shop. "C'mon Padfoot."

The small owl hooted tiredly. Harry poured out some water into Padfoot's open mouth. When the small owl had his fill, Harry took out a few seeds for Padfoot and brought the flask to his mouth as well. Thinking of hot tea, Harry let out a breath of relief as hot tea fell down his throat.

"I'm so glad I bought that," Harry told Tagger.

Tagger grinned back. "And it's a good thing you bought that bag, huh? Padfoot's doing fine and you have a few supplies."

Harry scowled. "Not enough. For instance, _I_ don't have any food. Padfoot has his seeds but who knows how long it'll take before I get help."

"But at least we know you're in London," Tagger pointed out.

"That totally helps," Harry said sarcastically.

"Glad I could help."

Harry groaned. Rolling his eyes, Harry eyed the flask. "I wonder if it'll feed me food."

Tagger shrugged. "You could try it."

Harry gripped the flask. _"I want chicken noodle soup." _Putting the flask to his mouth, he was surprised to feel hot liquid fall down his throat once more. There was no chicken or noodles, but Harry could definitely tell it was the soup part since it tasted just like chicken.

"It kinda worked."

Tagger waved it off with a paw. "That won't last forever. You can't just survive on liquids. Good thing you have some money left."

Harry shrugged absentmindedly. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to go out and bye food. Especially since he looked like he came from the streets. People would question where he got the money and questions were not good right now.

Tagger started talking again. "Now let's keep moving. We need to get rescued so we can start thinking up brilliant new pranks and revenge on Voldemort and at Hogwarts!"

Harry shot Tagger an annoyed look. "Now is not the best time to be thinking about pranks. I need to think about being rescued and getting Padfoot and myself safe!"

Tagger flew back a little, not really certain anymore with Harry's tone of voice. "Sorry, Harry. I wasn't really thinking."

"Obviously not!" Harry snapped. He wasn't exactly sure where all this anger came from. "It was a nice thought in the beginning. Before Voldemort came, I wasn't thinking. For a while I really thought I could get a childhood with you."

Tagger stayed silent, knowing there was more.

"But I can't!" Harry shouted, anger and sadness mixed together in his clear, emerald eyes. "My childhood was taken away and I'm expected to be this great hero or something! I can't do it, at least not…now."

Harry looked up, not really sure if Tagger was following. Heck, he wasn't even sure if he was making sense.

"This just proves that I don't have time for that kind of stuff." Harry looked at his hands before forming them into fists. "I need to get stronger. What have I been doing for all these years? I knew Voldemort would be back…"

"It's not your fault, Harry," Tagger said soothingly.

"It is!" Harry shouted. "It was _my_ blood. _I_ was the one who let Wormtail escape. If that hadn't happened, then Voldemort wouldn't be back." Harry's head drooped slightly.

"It was bound to happen; anyone could have brought Voldemort back. He could've used anyone's blood."

Harry shrugged. "The Dursley's are probably dead. _That_ was my fault."

Tagger sighed tiredly. "This is exactly why I wanted to get you into pranks. After everything you've done, you deserve to be a child."

"I can't," Harry snapped, anger coming back. "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I need to actually study."

"Study for what, Harry?" Tagger yelled. "Study to kill Voldemort? What makes you think it has to be you? Why can't you just accept the childhood I'm trying to give you?"

Harry bowed his head. "I would love to." Harry looked up, eyes hard. "But you know I can't. Voldemort has, and always will, try to kill me. I need to get strong so I can keep my friends safe."

Tagger shook his head, a huge smile on his face. "You'd do anything for your friends, right?"

"Anything," Harry said firmly.

"Your friends want you to live."

"I'll live after the war."

Tagger shook his head, this time out of frustration. "It doesn't work like that. This war will take everything from you. And you, someone who doesn't even have a childhood; will come out with no life."

Harry opened his mouth to argue but Tagger held up a paw. Harry stayed silent. A serious Tagger was someone you should definitely listen to.

"You would still be alive, perhaps even have all your friends alive and waiting for you. However, you would have no life. Do you get what I'm saying?" Harry slowly nodded, his eyes still showed bits of confusion.

"My life sucks."

Tagger laughed. "Indeed it does, Harry, but that's why you have me!" Tagger landed on Harry's shoulder with a laugh.

Harry laughed as well but it sounded hallow. Silence swept over them. Harry started walking again, this time with a little more ambition.

The silence didn't last long. Harry couldn't keep silent. He had a question, a question that had been bothering him for some time now. "Are you only a prankster because of the potion Fred and George gave me?"

Tagger looked thoughtful. "No, this is me. Perhaps you would have been one as well if the Dursley's didn't act the way they did. Who knows? I do know that this is my personality and I like the way I am."

"Do you like the way I am?" Harry asked, looking anywhere but at Tagger.

Tagger looked at Harry seriously. "I do." Harry looked surprised so Tagger elaborated. "I'm only trying to get you into the pranking life because of all the joy it brings. I…I remember playing pranks. I'm not sure how or where I did, but I know I did it before."

Harry looked confused. Where on earth could Tagger have done that? Wasn't he inside him? Is there more to Tagger than just being his animagus form?

"I care about you, Harry. And caring means that I want you to be happy. Perhaps I was forcing…yes, I suppose I was." Tagger glanced at Harry apologetically. "I guess I thought I could make you happy, give you the childhood you deserve through orders."

"That won't work," Harry said.

"I know," Tagger admitted. "But I'm glad you were happy yesterday. Well, before Voldemort came stated that you were to be his pet."

Harry scowled angrily. "That bastard, its bad enough he keeps trying to kill me but now he just wants to lock me up or use me for something." He eyed the manacle on his leg warily. "That will NOT happen."

"No it will not," Tagger agreed. "About that studying you talked about earlier. I'll help in any way I can. I'll teach you in all the dragon styles of fighting I know."

"Dragon fighting?" Harry asked curiously.

"Of course! I'm not gonna have you just stand there in a battle! Remember what I told you yesterday? I'm gonna get you in shape!"

Harry stared at the small dragon quietly, his foot steps making echoes in the alley. "Thank you, Tagger. I really mean it."

"Its fine, Harry. And I said I was sorry for trying to force you into something that you're not. I suppose it was a wasted effort."

"No!" Harry said sharply. "The feeling you gave me. The feeling of actually being free, enjoying myself, I'll never forget that." Tagger nodded. "And…and I woul…wouldn't mind if I tried that again with you." The last part was mumbled and whispered. It was as if Harry was almost afraid to say it.

Tagger stared at Harry with a little shock. Tagger stayed silent and just decided to look anywhere but at Harry. He stared at the amount of pipes that led to the underground sewers, the few birds that were up this early, and the sun. The beautiful sun that made the clouds pink and gold as it slowly rose into the sky.

"Tagger?" Harry asked quietly.

"I do not want to force you to be anything."

"You are not forcing me to do anything," Harry said firmly. "I choose to do this!"

"Are you choosing to fight Voldemort!" Tagger yelled back. "Answer me, Harry, do you truly choose it, or are others forcing you?"

Harry looked down. He tried to control his hand from clenching and unclenching. He kicked at a tin can on the ground. "A little bit of both," Harry said truthfully.

"What do _you_ want?"

"What do I want?" Harry had a dreamy expression on his face, but only for a moment as it disappeared and turned into a thoughtful look. "I want my friends to be safe. I want Sirius to be free so I'll never have to live with the Dursley's, although they're probably dead. I…I want to be just Harry."

"To be normal?" Tagger asked quietly.

"Yes. I want to be normal, but aren't I actually normal right now?" Harry's face kept changing with so much emotion that Tagger wasn't really sure what to say. "I can't do anything special. I'm not the best in school and I certainly don't have any special power."

"It's not true, Harry. You're extraordinary at Quidditch! One of the best seekers ever! You've learned many spells and you are excellent at Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Harry only shrugged.

"Some people are born normal and can either choose to be great or do nothing," Tagger said seriously. "And then there are those who are born great. You are one of those people, Harry. Why on earth do you think Voldemort's after you?"

Harry shrugged and suddenly frowned. "I asked Professor Dumbledore that in first year. He never said."

"It's probably because he was scared of your power!" Tagger boasted.

"Pft. My power?"

"Of course your power," Tagger said as if I was the most obvious thing in the world. "Your magic is still growing! And you said you were more serious with your studies. Just imagine what you'll be like when you're trained! And normal? When have you ever been normal?"

"I don't know. That is why I will learn all I can so I will be strong enough to stop Voldemort," Harry said with more resolve. "He won't ever hurt me or my friends again."

"He won't, and I will do whatever it takes to help you. Now onward, to find a safe place and get the hell off the street!" Tagger punched a clawed fist in the air.

Harry nodded and picked up his pace, weaving around some more dumpsters and alleys. He was determined to find a familiar place and contact someone. Was he actually calling for help or just for someone to pick him up?

Harry thought about that for a while. He didn't want Dumbledore to waste his time doing unnecessary stuff when Harry could just make his way to Diagon Alley himself. Harry felt his face go red with shame as he thought about Dumbledore worrying about him instead of taking action and doing something about Voldemort instead.

"Tagger?" Harry asked after a while of silence. "You said you would help me with my studies and fighting, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, do you think, if I have the time…that is, um," Harry struggled for the right word.

"To live?"

"Well, if you're going to put it that way, then yes. To enjoy life while I still have it."

"Yes, Harry." Tagger grinned fully, razor sharp teeth sparkling. "I'll help in any way I can to make life happy for you."

"Thanks, Tagger."

"No problem. I'm just glad you finally decided to make that change. I'm gonna get you out of that boring style of yours, chibi!" Tagger laughed, bringing the humor back.

All he got was an indigent, "Hey!"

- - - - - - - - -

"He did WHAT!" several people yelled. Among the people who yelled were Ron, Fred, George, Ginny and Molly Weasely, and Hermione and Sirius. Of course there were others but they weren't as loud.

"Blimey, Fred," George whispered to his twin. "It took us several tries to get apparating right and Harry did it with only one try!"

"Indeed he did, ol' brother of mine. It seems like Harry is a true prankster at heart!"

"Of course! Those who break rules are no do gooders."

"Oh, but you forget, dear brother."

"And what have I forgotten?" George asked curiously.

"You have forgotten all the things Harry did."

"Of course, but we are most grateful to all that dear Harry has done."

"Too right! In fact it was him who became our greatest—"

"—and only," George cut in.

"—benefactor," Fred finished.

"Yea, yea, I know," George concluded.

"What are you two whispering about!" Mrs. Weaasely's booming voice interrupted the two.

"Nothing, mum," the two replied with identical grins.

"We're just congratulating Harry on a job well done on getting away from the evil snake bastard."

"Fred, watch your language!"

"Sorry, mum."

"Err, mum?" Ron asked meekly. "Professor Dumbledore is still talking."

Mrs. Weasely blushed as Dumbledore stared at her with his eyes twinkling merrily. "Sorry, Headmaster."

"It is quite alright, Molly." Dumbledore turned back to the rest of the group.

They were currently in Grimmauld's place, the headquarters for the infamous group, The Order of the Pheonix. Many people were attending the meeting, seeing how important the topic was: The retrieval of Harry Potter.

"Now, as I was saying," Dumbledore told the Order. "We will have Fawkes," and here he indicated the great phoenix off to the right, "pick up Harry's trail from his home. Harry's wand has a phoenix feather as its core and will allow Fawkes to pick up the energy. Also, Fawkes has taken a liking to young Harry and that will make it a bit easier."

"When are we leaving?" Sirius demanded.

Dumbledore sighed. "I am sorry, Sirius, I do not think it would be safe if you were to accompany us."

"I don't care if it's not safe! Hell, I don't care if the very fires of hell are raining down on us! I will be there and save my godson!"

"And just what would you do exactly, Black?" Snape put in from the shadows. "Sniff around for that scent which obviously isn't there. In case you have forgotten, Potter dissaparated. He didn't just get up and walk out the front door with the Dark Lord in his way."

"You shut your mouth, _Snivellus_," Sirius snarled. "It's bad enough that you're going. What will you do, crawl back to your master and help him find Harry?"

Snape was on his feet so fast that his chair was knocked backwards, his wand pointed at Sirius who was in the same position. "I am going because I am needed, unlike you, Black. You have done nothing in this house for months. I wonder, what use are you to us?"

Sirius let out a snarl, but before he could say anything, Dumbledore stood up. "That is enough. We need to work together if we are to get Harry back." _Unless Voldemort already has him _hung silently in the air.

Dumbledore sighed tiredly and looked at Sirius who was at least looking a looking a little guilty. "Very well, Sirius, you may come." Sirius's face lit up into a huge grin but before he could say anything, Dumbledore continued, "You will, however, not be allowed to change back into your human form. It is too much of a risk."

"Thank you, Headmaster," Sirius said gratefully. He turned to Remus and gave him a thumb's up and a large grin that seemed to say, 'See? I told you I could go.'

Remus only shook his head and walked up to table and put a medium sized box on top of it. "Here are Harry's things." He turned to Ron and Hermione. "We couldn't find his invisibility cloak, the map, or his Firebolt."

"What!" Ron yelled.

Hermione shot Ron an annoyed look before turning back to Remus. "Did you check under the floorboard beneath his bed?"

Remus stayed silent for a few moments. "No, no we did not. When we head back, we'll be sure to check." He scolded himself mentally for not checking under the bed. He had been so angry with what had occurred.

A _pet!_ Voldemort called Harry his _pet!_ Remus inwardly growled. He, being a werewolf, felt a huge surge of hatred for that very term. Harry was part of his pack – his cub! Harry would not be going anywhere near Voldemort if he had something to say about it.

Sirius stuck his hand in the box and pulled out a few books and some candies. "What are these?" Sirius asked, holding the candies, curiosity burning in his eyes.

"Trick sweets," George answered.

"We decided to send Harry some things to help cheer him up," Fred said.

"Fred! George!" Mrs. Weasely's voice sprang like a mousetrap. "You shouldn't send those things to Harry. Remember what happened last summer with his cousin?"

"Yea, we do," the two answered with identical evil grins.

Hermione 'tutted' disapprovingly but still looked at the treats with mild curiosity.

"If you are quite done," Snape snapped. "We need to be finishing up. I have much more important matters to attend to."

"What's that, Snape?" Sirius asked angrily. "Fixing some potions for your master?"

The others in the room only groaned. It was impossible to keep them apart.

Dumbledore stood up. "Yes, Serverus is right. We must get going. Fawkes will meet us there." And with that, Dumbledore apparated away. Other pops echoed in the kitchen as the others apparated off to Private Drive.

- - - - - - - - - -

Voldemort eyed his Death Eaters coldly, as if daring them to speak. His eyes traveled to each person, trying to pick up the scent betrayal. He knew he had a traitor in his ranks; he only needed to know who it was and how many there were.

"As you know, the wards around Potter's house do not permit portkey. It also does not allow to apparate away with someone unless he actually knows how to."

There were a few murmurs, each person trying to figure out what Voldemort was trying to say but simply figured he was explaining the reason why they didn't have Potter already.

"There was no way to get Potter out of there without a larger number," Voldemort continued, silencing the murmurs. "A number that I will not risk for such a small thing. Which was why he needed to be scared into thinking about nothing but survival. This lead to Potter performing accidental magic and apparating away."

The Death Eaters glanced at each other warily. Were the wards over Potter's house really that difficult that they couldn't just portkey the brat away?

Voldemort turned away swiftly, his cloaks billowing behind him in a very Snape like manner. He turned to the large cauldron that stood in the middle of the cold dungeon. A clear, white liquid sat in the cauldron, not even moving or bubbling.

Voldemort took a manacle and a small dagger. Cutting his thumb, Voldemort smeared the blood on the manacle and then let two drops of blood fall into the liquid. The water swirled for a moment before stilling, showing the face of Harry Potter.

Voldemort watched silently, letting his sharp nails trace Harry's outline.

The Death eaters watched as Potter walked through a small crowd, hiding who he was with the overlarge coat. They watched as he walked behind the small group and then immediately turned into an alley. He climbed up a fire escape, going to the third story before jumping over to the next building, which was only three feet away, and headed back down the fire escape, heading toward his destination.

He managed to jump from several fire escapes and then landed beneath a small bridge. He sat down and pulled out a small brown bag, opened it, and pulled out a hamburger.

The Death Eaters exchanged looks. When had the brat even taken the food? Voldemort narrowed his eyes because he saw. He sees everything, nothing ever escapes his gaze. He looked at the bridge, the surroundings, and the small, slightly polluted river only a few feet away from Potter.

Voldemort smirked and watched as Harry suddenly jerked his head and stared exactly right at Voldemort. He stared icily as the small boy shook his head after a moment, obviously thinking he saw something really hadn't. Voldemort smirked again. Oh how wrong the boy was.

Voldemort waved his wand and the picture of Harry dissolved. He turned and glared at his servants. There were six in total that would be sent. There was no need to send too much. The ministry wouldn't be there to help and Dumbledore still had no idea where the brat was.

Everything was in his favor. The boy was literally his; all he needed to do was corner him. He would probably go into the sewage area. Voldemort knew exactly where he was and knew the area quite well.

"Potter is in between Bond Street and Oxford Street. As you all saw, Potter is beneath the bridge near the underground sewage area. Go out and find him, and make sure he isn't dead when I arrive." Voldemort glared, promising a painful death if they disagreed. "I will join you shortly. Now go, you have your orders!" he barked.

The Death Eaters quickly bowed and left the room quickly.

Voldemort eyed the empty room, rage evident on his features. A hissing sound brought his attention to the large snake curled around his chair.

'_Is it time, Tom?' _Nagini asked in an almost eager voice. (As much as a snake could sound eager.)

Voldemort scowled at the large serpent. _'I have told you countless times not to call me by that name. And as for your question, yes, it is time.'_

Nagini brought herself up to full height. _'An interesting and most fascinating prey this will be. A very eventful hunt this will be.'_

'_You are not to eat the boy, Nagini,' _Voldemort warned softly.

Nagini eyed Voldemort before flicking out her tongue. _'Of course not, Tom.' _Voldemort glared at the large snake. _'His aura is very pleasing. I still remember what he felt like when he was tied to your father's grave. Very powerful.'_

Voldemort paced quietly. _'Your tone tells me you have something in mind, Nagini. I certainly hope that you do not cause anything to go awry in your mischief.' _Voldemort's voice was cold and had the hint of a threat laced around the words.

Nagini only gave a small hiss that sounded very much like laughter. _'Of course, Tom.' _And with that, she slithered out of the room, very much aware of the cold, red eyes following her.

- - - - - - - -

Harry growled in annoyance as he watched black and green scaled slowly crawl up his arm. It was very, very itchy, but Tagger had told him not to scratch it. He sighed in relief as the scales stopped at his wrists.

His relief quickly disappeared as a fresh wave of pain hit him. He held his feet tightly and quickly took his shoes off. He watched in both morbid fascination and pain as his feet began to grow longer and narrower. Some of his toes began to shrink into his skin while the others grew larger and much sharper than humanly possible.

When the change had stopped, Harry saw that his feet had three large claw like toes while a fourth was where his heel had been but it was moved higher on his leg. (Think Gargoyle feet from the show.) He had black scales that went almost up to his knees while dark green scales were under the foot.

Harry flexed each foot carefully. "That was…interesting."

"No time to be interested, Harry," Tagger said quickly. "Look."

Harry looked where Tagger was pointing and his eyes widened in shock as he caught sight of several people in black cloaks. _"Death Eaters!"_

"Go down that tube, quickly!" Tagger barked.

It only took Harry one moments hesitation as he quickly ducked into the tube and felt himself slide down. It felt just like going down to the chamber of secrets only this time, Harry had no idea where he was going. The bad news, the Death Eaters saw him.

- - - - - - -

I'm done with another chapter. Please review! Next chapter there will be a _very _interesting battle. Will Sirius be able to save Harry? And what is Nagini's plan? Find out! YAY.


	4. a little run in

There are a few things I would like to point out about this story. First, if you don't already know, it's an AU of 5th year. Harry will be both dead serious but also sarcastic and witty. Basically, he will try to get the childhood that he never had.

Harry is very serious this year because he knows that Voldemort is out to get him and he must be prepared. No more cruising by with only an A or an E in his grades. Potions, yes potions people, will help Harry along the way. This will not be a super Harry where he gets all these powers or a huge inheritance in the blink of an eye.

Harry will be working for these powers. I'm trying to keep this realistic but with a bit more magic. Ever notice the books don't have that many spells? This will change. Harry will also be a child because now it's his chance to actually be one. His was taken away and now that Tagger is there to help, things will be much easier.

Tagger the dragon will be a main character and will not be removed. I know a few asked about that but he will stay. Don't worry, he will not be as pushy as before and will be helping Harry along. Oh! And I promise to make Voldemort, in one reviewers words, 'less crucio happy.'

For pranks…won't be major but Harry will do a few pranks and taught by Fred and George. People always underestimate those two but they don't realize how smart they really are. Just look at their treats, pure genius!

"Blah" –talking

"_Blah" –thinking_

"_Blah" _–curses (curses will always be said out loud unless I say otherwise.)

'_Blah' –parseltongue _

- - - - - -

Cursed.

Harry often wondered if he was cursed. The first eleven years of his life was actually a living hell. Living with the Dursley's had practically removed all of Harry's self-esteem. Any little thing that Harry did right, the Dursley's would always throw it back in his face. Harry was a fast learner and realized quickly that no matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, he would never be good enough.

Hope.

Harry often wondered if there was a God but quickly discarded the thought. If there truly was a God, then why did he allow so many horrible things to the world, to people…to him?

Hatred.

This word Harry was very familiar with. When Harry was young, he was filled with so much hate and despair it practically radiated off him. Sometimes, very late into the night, when the house was pitch black, Harry would take off his glasses and stare at himself in front of the mirror. Strangely enough, he could see quite well in the dark.

His face and outline was fuzzy but his eyes practically gleamed with light and he could see them clearly. He could see them perfectly and it made him wonder if everyone could see his eyes in the dark. The fact that his eyes were visible in the dead of night didn't matter, what did matter was the history behind it.

It wasn't the shine or color, but what he felt, what he knew, his thoughts. The knowledge that Harry would seek out frightened him. Even to this day, Harry still had no idea how so much hate could be behind his eyes. The scary thing about that hate is that it's still there.

Questions.

Harry often asked himself many questions. He did this a lot when he was younger and it's no wonder why, seeing as how he never had anyone to talk to. Most of his questions were 'what if' or 'why.' He never asked 'how.' Those questions he stayed away from because those questions led to accusations. He of all people had no right to accuse anyone when he himself got people killed.

Not all his questions were about his past or his future, or even anything at all; just mindless questions to amuse himself with or find out what his mind would come up with. His mind was his own and it never failed him…until recently.

Now when he would ask a question, he would receive an answer but not from his own mind. A new voice had entered his mind. Its presence was unwanted for it was sneaky, constricting and manipulative. It filled his head with doubts and fear. Hatred began to build like it did all those years ago.

The sad thing, all that hatred that Harry had managed to keep hidden away was back, and now it was only adding to his new hatred. Hatred can do many things to a person. Harry could only hope that all his hatred never forced him to do something that he would regret forever.

- - - - - -

Three hours.

Three bloody hours of mindlessly walking around. As soon as Harry shot out of the pipe he quickly shut the lid, sealing it shut so the Death Eaters couldn't follow him. Once he was sure the door was bared shut, Harry took to wandering the underground sewage in search of another opening.

It wasn't that bad down here, now that Harry thought about it. It kind of reminded him of that one show, Ninja Turtles or something. He had once seen Dudley watch that show before Aunt Petunia shut it off quickly, telling them things like that were nonsense and should not be watched.

Transforming was starting to become a problem but was also a miracle gift. While he itched like crazy and collapsed from pain several times because his bones kept changing, it had helped him out as well.

An old man, either drunk or just crazy (Harry assumed both) had attacked him on sight, claiming he was a demon from hell but still needed his stuff to survive. Harry had been horrified as the man came at him with a large kitchen knife, which was probably stolen or thrown away, and started to swing it at him.

Tagger had immediately told Harry to jump back and pull out his knife. Harry did so hesitatively but got into a defensive position. The man came at him once more, his eyes glazed over from alcohol. Harry panicked and slashed his knife at an odd angle with his eyes _closed_ of all things. When Harry opened his eyes again he saw that the crazy man had a long diagonal gash on his chest. Blood was starting to soak his shirt.

The man came at him in anger but still had a dizzy stance in him. Harry's tail lashed out and tripped the man, making him hit his head on a rock and knock himself out. Harry had stood still for several seconds before looking at his knife in disgust and was about to fling it away but Tagger stopped him, reminding him that there was still danger.

Harry grudgingly cleaned the blade off and stole the crazy mans knife and chucked it into the dirty water where Harry was sure he couldn't retrieve it back.

That had happened two hours ago. Harry now stood over a large puddle of water and stared at his reflection. True to Voldemort's word, Harry did have slit like eyes. The eye color looked brighter than ever and Harry wondered if it twinkled like Dumbledore's. He didn't think so and seriously hoped not. Nothing against the whole…twinkling thing, but it just wierded Harry out.

According to Tagger, Harry was transforming at an alarmingly fast rate. Harry had scales all the way up to his thighs and each knee had one huge spike poking out of his pants and curving up at a sharp ark. Both arms were completely covered in green and black scales while his elbows also had spikes. His hands were now claws and only had four fingers per hand. He had two horns coming out of his head, curing up and over his head. (Think Brooklyn from gargoyales.)

Harry's chest and back were starting to get a few scales as well. The most exciting and frustrating part was waiting for wings. Harry's love of flying was so strong that he was practically bouncing with excitement when Tagger told him he would be finished with the transformation by either the end of the day or in the morning.

The manacle was still there. Although Harry's foot had changed the manacle had stayed put. It appeared to be loose but as soon as Harry tugged or pulled at it, it would tighten and keep a good hold. Harry had given up and decided that Dumbledore would know how to remove the annoying hunk of steel.

And here they were, walking along, looking for an escape.

"So what do you think?" Harry asked Tagger.

Tagger thought for a moment before saying, "I dunno, maybe you can tell them you were bitten by a mutant alligator."

Harry stared at Tagger for a few moments before snorting. They were discussing what to say to the adults if he was found looking the way he looked at the moment. Harry wasn't too fond of telling them he was an illegal animagus and he had no interest of snitching out Fred and George.

"I suppose I could tell them Voldemort forced a potion down my mouth and this was the result," Harry mused.

"Voldemort isn't above something like that; I'm pretty sure if he wanted a guinea pig, the obvious choice would be you. I guess it could work."

Harry shrugged and yawned widely. A full day of no sleep could really make you tired. Harry pulled at his shirt, looking at all the rips and tears in it. His scales were sharp and hard and tore the fabric easily. His new pants also had several holes, despite the spikes on his knees and his tail.

Harry continued down a small path while giving a worried look at Padfoot who only hooted happily. Harry smiled and tickled Padfoot on the head, causing the owl to nip his finger playfully.

"We'll get out of here soon," Harry promised. Glancing lazily at the walls, Harry tensed as he felt more scales moving up his back but continued to walk.

"I'm surprised your transformation is happening so quickly," Tagger said. Harry looked at the small dragon. "Your magic must be very high if it's allowing you to transform at this alarming rate."

Harry only nodded, not exactly sure what to say. What could he say? 'Oh yes, my power is so incredible that I'm defying all the rules ad logic of animagus transformation?'

Some angry yelling brought Harry out of his thoughts. He tensed and hid behind a wall, peering out cautiously. Tagger took a closer look. "I don't think it's a Death Eater, they would be quieter than that."

Harry had to agree but still remained cautious. "I'm not going to fall one of their tricks so I'll be careful," Harry whispered.

Tagger nodded and followed Harry as he moved slowly, knife in hand. When he was close to the edge he peered behind the wall and could only blink in surprise as he saw a small figure fighting against what appeared to be string. Harry could almost laugh when he realized what it was.

He came out behind the wall and walked up to the small creature. "You startled me, little fairy."

Yes, what had scared him shitless only a moment ago was nothing more than a fairy. She was very beautiful though. Only about five inches high was a female fairy with dark black hair, a white dress with a hint of blue, beautiful butterfly-like wings that were black and purple and her eyes were a bright purple.

The fairy, not expecting someone to sneak up on her, screamed. Harry slammed his hands against his ears. Merlin, when this fairy screamed she REALLY screamed. He had to do something if he didn't want his location to be revealed to anyone. "Shhh, I didn't mean to scare you. It was actually you that startled me."

The fairy stopped screaming and blushed. "Sorry young demon, I thought you were here to eat me."

Harry almost groaned. That was the second time he was called a demon. "Look, I'm not a demon, I'm a wizard and I heard some yelling and came to investigate."

The fairy laughed. Her laughter almost sounded like music in the wind. "So sorry, wizard, but your appearance does make you a bit weird. …Oops, that wasn't very polite. Anyway, my name is Kaz."

Harry smiled. "My name is Harry." Padfoot hooted in the bag. "And that's Padfoot. Err, do you need any help?"

Kaz smoothed out her dress in embarrassment. "If you could, I wasn't really paying attention to where I was flying and got caught in string of all things!"

Harry chuckled and eased Kaz out of the string as gently as possible. She flew in circles around his head in celebration after being free. She started to chatter in high pitched squeals and Tagger finally had to tell Harry that she better shut up.

Harry's eyes widened as he remembered the reason he was down here. "Kaz!" She looked down at him. "I don't mean to be rude but I need you to be quiet."

"What? Why?" Kaz demanded. "Is it because you don't like me?" Her eyes got large and glassy but Harry could see the mischief glowing a mile away.

"No Kaz, there are some people I'm running from. They're after me and I need to get out of here and find help."

"People after you? Who?"

Harry gulped. "Well, have you heard of a guy called Voldemort?"

Kaz gasped and her eyes narrowed. "That _thing_ is down here? Why is he after you?"

"Well, you see--" Harry started but was cut off by Kaz.

"There's no time to explain!" She quickly flew on top of Harry's head and pointed straight. "Just go that way." Harry stood there for a few seconds, not really sure what just happened. Kaz bopped him on the head. "What are you waiting for, the end of time? We need to get you out of here!"

"Yes, ma'm," Harry answered before taking off.

Tagger just followed behind, laughing like crazy and only laughed harder when Harry glared at him.

- - - - - - - - -

"I don't get it, Sirius," Remus muttered to the large black dog at his side. "Where did we go wrong? We were supposed to be protecting Harry and just look what happened."

Sirius whined at Remus' feet. He gave him a look that said 'Don't blame yourself, we'll get him home then tie him to a chair forever and ever.' Remus rolled his eyes at the look. He knew _exactly_ what that look meant, since Sirius used that look on James every time he was sick or turned down by Lily.

Remus smiled, thinking of the old days. He quickly frowned, remembering what he needed to do. There was no point in dwelling in the past. He looked at the items he had in a small box. They had found Harry's most valuable items and most of Harry's homework. Although why Harry needed to hide his homework was beyond Remus.

Sirius nudged Remus, gaining his attention. Remus looked at the large dog and noticed Dumbledore had started talking.

"Everyone!" Dumbledore called. All heads turned his way. "Fawkes has picked up Harry's trail. We should be able to catch up with him as soon as possible. Aurors that have come, I thank you greatly. Remember, we can't have the Ministry get too involved."

Everyone muttered an agreement. Fudges refusal to believe Voldemort was back was really taking its toll on the Order. All the secrecy was getting harder and harder.

Dumbledore walked beside Remus. "Does Fawkes really know how to get us to where Harry is?" Remus asked.

"Fawkes will be able to give us a mental connection to where Harry apparated to. Once we get there, we will have to start looking." Dumbledore suddenly looked up at the sky and smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Although I don't think finding Harry will be too hard."

Both Remus and Sirius looked up and saw a small white dot moving toward them at high speed. Hedwig flew toward Fawkes, screeching madly and despite themselves, everyone turned away from what they were doing and watched the exchange with mild amusement.

Hedwig was screeching as loud as she could and Fawkes looked like Ron who was being yelled at by his mother. Fawkes gave a quick chirp, interrupting Hedwig, and disappeared in a burst of fire. Instantly, all those who were tracking Harry Potter, felt a small tug and an image, disappeared into the night.

Hedwig gave a hoot of triumph and flew off toward the others. She had two chicks to find. One only a newborn and the other that was still a hatchling but wise beyond his years. She would not let anything happen to her loved ones.

- - - - - - - - -

"So let me get this straight," Kaz started, looking at Harry's face. "You're Harry Potter, and now Voldemort is after you and is trying to control you with some strange manacle or something?"

"Yep."

"And you're in that form because you're changing into your animagus form?"

Harry nodded. "That about sums it up."

Kaz started laughing and Harry gave her an irritated glance as she settled onto his head again, holding onto his hair firmly but gently. "That's a pretty interesting story, Harry."

"You don't believe me?"

"Of course I believe you; I just can't believe _I _met the great Harry Potter."

Harry groaned. "Don't tell me I'm famous among magical creatures."

"Of course you are! You didn't just help the humans but the magical creature community as well. Voldemort used us as slaves. The poor house elves really had it bad."

Harry thought about Dobby and kicked at a rock in disgust. "Well, I'm not that great or anything…"

"Are too!" Tagger called but Harry ignored him.

"I mean, I don't even know what happened."

Kaz smiled soothingly. "It doesn't matter if you can't remember; it's the fact that you helped us all. We are all in your debt."

Harry shifted uncomfortably. "I don't want anyone in my debt. Things are hectic enough; I don't need people to worship me."

Kaz patted his head. "Don't worry, Harry, this changes nothing between the two of us. If you like it, I won't make such a big deal."

Harry smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Kaz. You've been a lot of help."

"Indeed she has," said a dark voice. Harry whipped around and stared at rugged looking man. He had matted gray hair and what appeared to be whiskers. His eyes glowed a soft yellow. He smiled, showing sharp teeth and Harry could smell dirt, sweat, and wolf. He was surprised he couldn't smell the man earlier but assumed it was because of the sewage.

"Werewolf," Harry whispered.

The man grinned wickedly. "Very good, Potter. I could hear your loud little friend miles away. She has a very annoying voice." Kaz 'hmphed' angrily. "My name is Fenir Greyback, and I will be the one to return you to the Dark Lord."

Harry backed up a few steps. "I'm not going anywhere near that crazy bastard," Harry snarled.

Fenir smiled so wide that every single tooth showed. "Oooh, I was hoping for a little fight. Whatever you did to yourself will make this a lot of fun."

Harry placed his backpack on the ground and bent his claws dangerously. "This is nothing but a game to you, isn't it?"

"Yes," Fenir whispered and licked his lips in anticipation. "When I bring you to the Dark Lord, he shall reward me many delicious muggles for a snack."

Harry paled. "You would eat them?"

"Yes, human flesh is very tasty."

"You disgust me," Harry snarled.

"I'm glad," Fenir said as he charged at Harry. Harry was unprepared as Fenir bit his arm and slammed him against a wall. Harry, who was expecting pain, gasped in surprise as he felt nothing. Fenir, however, jumped up and held his mouth. Harry lifted his shirt and looked at the scales.

He suddenly grinned at Fenir. "Looks like your bite can't hurt me."

Fenir only growled angrily. "Maybe not on your arm, but I think your neck should do. I don't see any scales there."

Harry bared his own teeth and felt his already large fangs grow larger. They could now stick out of his lips and let the tips show. "No one will get me to Voldemort."

Fenir just charged at him and Harry caught his fist but was unable to stop his other hand from slamming him back on the ground. "You look so delicious," Fenir whispered. "So tasty…the Dark Lord won't mind…"

Harry's eyes widened but saw Fenir thrown off of him just as he was about to take a bite out of him. Harry turned to see Kaz panting hard and looked about ready to faint. "I managed to blow him off with wind," she said weakly.

Harry nodded in thanks and stood up. "Get your knife out," Tagger told him quickly. "It's made of silver, it'll protect you."

Harry took it out, not really prepared.

"I'll kill your little friend and laugh as I watch the Dark Lord tortures you. Soon he'll have all your little friends and I'll be there…eating them."

Harry whipped out the knife as fast as he could, anger and hate burning in his eyes. "Nobody hurts my friends," Harry said angrily. He moved toward Fenir but the werewolf moved back a step. "Afraid of a little silver?" Harry taunted.

"Disgusting human."

Harry swung the knife upwards and managed to catch Fenir on his right shoulder. The wolf man screamed in pain. "Leave me alone," Harry said harshly.

He turned away and started walking toward his backpack and Kaz. "Harry!" Tagger yelled. "Don't turn your back on him!"

"What?" Harry turned around and just managed to keep a hold of the knife as he was slammed into the wall. Ok, so turning your back on the enemy after one strike was not a good idea.

Fenir shook him wildly. "I'll eat you," he growled. "They won't know…yes…I'm going to put you in so much pain for that." He held Harry's neck tightly and his left hand in the other. He leaned close to his neck and licked it.

Harry shivered. "Don't…"

"Such delicious skin…so delicious." Fenir opened his mouth wide.

"HARRY!" Tagger and Kaz yelled. Harry didn't know if it was instinct or just a simple reaction, but whatever it was, just as Fenir was about to rip out his throat, his right arm lunged out with the knife and hit Fenir directly in the heart.

He was dead immediately and slumped on top of Harry. Harry, not realizing what happed, just stared at him in shock and fear. It wasn't until he felt a warm sticky substance did he draw back in horror. He stared at the dead body in shock.

It was a few minutes before he managed to tear his eyes away from the unmoving figure and retched all over the ground.

"What have I done?" Kaz flew over to him and collapsed on his shoulder.

"Harry, you had no choice."

"I killed him!" Harry yelled, tears coming to his eyes. "I killed him! Oh Merlin, I'm a murderer!"

"Harry!" Kaz barked. Harry quieted down. "You had no choice," Kaz continued in a quieter tone. "If you hadn't done what you had to do, you would be dead."

Harry looked away but still nodded. He turned back to Kaz. "What did you do to him earlier?"

"Oh!" said Kaz happily. "I'm a wind fairy! I can direct wind currents and create strong blasts but because I'm not very skilled at it, it drains my power and I used a lot of power to help you. I'll have to go to sleep later."

"Thank you, Kaz," Harry said gratefully.

Kaz rubbed his arm soothingly. "No problem, what are friends for? Now, let's get this blood cleaned off."

Harry nodded and headed back to Padfoot and his bag, not once looking at the dead body. He gave Tagger a look of thanks and the small dragon grinned back, giving him a double thumbs up. Harry rolled his eyes and pulled out his flask and allowed water to pour out and wash off his arm and knife.

Once the Harry cleaned off the blood as well as he could he turned to his shoulder and lifted his sleeve. He looked at the place where Fenir Greyback had bitten him. There wasn't even a scratch.

"Dragon scales are harder than steel, Harry," Tagger said. "Only another dragon can actually penetrate a dragon's scale. Swords can cause damage and even kill dragons if they get it in between the soft spot on your breast but that would mean they someone had to hold you down or something."

Harry gazed at Tagger, showing he heard him. He decided not to tell Kaz that only he could see the small dragon. He didn't need the little fairy to think he was crazy.

Harry got up slowly and looked straight on, haunted eyes glowing slightly. "Time to go…"

- - - - - - - -

"Split up," Dumbledore ordered as everyone separated and went off in search of Harry Potter.

Sirius immediately went to work, sniffing the ground for any type of scent. "Any luck, Padfoot?" Remus whispered. After a few seconds of silence, Sirius gave a joyful bark and ran off, straight toward the sewage pipe Harry slid down.

Peering down curiously, Remus lit his wand and could notice the bottom was sealed. "No go, Padfoot. Either your nose is wrong or Harry closed the opening." Sirius gave him a look that said, 'What? You dare question my sense of direction?'

Remus lifted an eyebrow. "Albus!" he called. "I think Harry slid down this pipe, unfortunately, the exit seems blocked."

Dumbledore, who walked up to Remus, looked at Fawkes who was perched on his shoulder. "Do you think you can find us a way in, old friend?" Fawkes gave a reassuring chirp and flew down the pipe.

Remus twitched nervously and couldn't help but throw Albus annoying glances as he hummed a tune.

- - - - - - - -

"Do you think they're on to us?"

"Nah, the Order is way too busy."

"Yes, with dear little Harrikins out there kicking You-Know-Who's arse, there is bound to be chaos."

"Yes indeed, dear brother."

Fred and George Weasely sat together in a small corner, whispering softly and gaining many untrustworthy glances.

"Harry has his animagus abilities to help him, so he should be fine," Fred whispered.

"Yes, our practically adopted brother does have some brains," George put in.

"But not enough to be the studying Ravenclaw type."

Fred put a finger to his lip in thought. "Harry's dear old dad was one of the great Mauraders! The great Prongs himself!"

"And that means…" George said with a huge grin on his face.

"That Harry's a prankster at heart!" They both yelled.

"Oi!" The twins turned to an irritated Ron. "What's up with you two?"

"I would like to know that as well," said Charlie as he entered the room and sat next to Hermione on the couch.

Fred and George made their way over to the others.

"Oh nothing," George replied mysteriously.

"Just talking about how much pranks Harry is going to play on Lord Voldie and his Death Eaters," Fred put in.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh you two. Honestly, the Order will track down Harry and bring him back safe and sound. Although Harry is one for battle, he is not a prankster."

"Ahh," said Fred sagely. "But Harry's father was a prankster. Harry isn't dumb, he'll do whatever it takes to get some revenge but still get out safe."

"And with the right… motivation, I'm sure Harry will disembark on the wonderful adventure that is to be a true prankster!"

Charlie covered a small chuckle. "And what exactly would this 'motivation' be?"

Fred and George both grinned evilly. "Why us of course!"

"Hey! You two better not do anything to Harry when he gets here!" Ron said angrily.

"Don't worry ickle Ronnie," George said. "We don't plan on scarring Harry too much."

Ron scowled at his two brothers.

Hermione, quite annoyed by their antics, said, "And just what brought on this sudden interest, hmm? You've never seemed to care before."

Fred put a hand over his heart as if he had been deeply insulted. "Now, now, Harry is our unofficially adopted little brother. We have a right to mess with him. Right Ronnie-poo?"

"Sod off," Ron muttered.

George shook a mocking finger in his face. "Now what would mum say to that kind of language?"

Ron only swore loudly and got up, Hermione right behind him, and headed to his room.

When they were gone, Charlie turned a glare at them. "Now what exactly was that all about? Their best friend is out there right now fighting for his life and you two are just making plans against him for your own amusement."

"Charlie, we would never intentionally do that," Fred said so sincerely that Charlie was taken back a moment.

Glare still there, Charlie folded his hands. "And just what were you doing?"

"Well," George started slowly, "didn't you ever notice that Harry's always in a grumpy or sad mood?"

Charlie thought about it. "I'm not really sure," he admitted. "I've only ever seen him at the Quidditch World Cup and he seemed pretty nice to me."

"Oh he is!" George said quickly.

"It's just all that You-now-who business," Fred said. "Everything old snake face does is really starting to get to Harry worse than usual."

Charlie looked at them quizzically. "And your point is?"

"The point is…" George started.

"…Is that we need to get into a happy mood!" Fred finished. The twins wore identical grins as they surveyed their confused brother.

"And you want to do that…how?"

"We gave Harry some supplies," Fred said.

Charlie sighed. "Fred, George…what you're trying to do…sounds nice, but do try to act a bit more considerate in front of Ron and Hermione." He got up and left, leaving the twins.

Hermione and Ron, who had been eavesdropping, entered their room.

"You don't think Fred and George could be on to something, do you?" Ron asked.

Hermione sat at the edge of her bed. Rolling her eyes, she smiled softly at Ron. "Oh, Ron, even if Harry did have some of the twins tricks what would he do?"

Ron laughed. "Yea, when has Harry ever even considered pranking someone, much less a Death Eater while on the run?"

- - - - - - - - - - -

"RUN!" Tagger screamed as Harry ran as fast as he could, a huge smile on his face. Harry had to fight the huge urge to start laughing hysterically. Although if he did, he was pretty sure the Death Eaters would be a little too busy to catch up with him.

(Flashback)

_Harry was currently hidden by several large rocks as five Death Eaters were huddled together on a lower level. _

"_Where is that blasted werewolf?" a woman screeched in a high pitched voice. Harry winced at the voice and couldn't help but wonder how Kaz managed to sleep through that. _

_The small fairy was sound asleep in his bag, magically exhausted from using an advanced form of wind magic. Apparently there was several types of elemental magic but Kaz promised to explain more later._

_A blond man, who Harry could see was Lucius Malfoy, said, "Probably on a little stroll, disobeying the Dark Lords orders as usual."_

_The woman scowled. "Why are we here anyways? Master should have us doing a much better mission than this."_

"_You…you…shou…shouldn't question…masters orders," Wormtail squeaked. Harry narrowed his eyes in disgust._

"_Be silent, coward," Lucius snarled angily, spit hitting Wormtail in the face. He was obviously not in a good mood. Harry supposed several hours of wandering carelessly around a sewer can do that to a person._

_Wormtail twitched in fear and sank lower to the ground near Crabbe and Goyle Sr. The two stood silent but often made the occasional grunt._

_Malfoy, however, turned back to the woman and said coolly, "Although he is a coward and has no particular use to us, he does have a point, Bellatrix." _

_Harry frowned as Bellatrix narrowed her eyes. He couldn't mean Bellatrix Lestrange, could he?_

"_The Dark Lord actually went out of his way to make sure you and several others were broken out of Azkaban, what say you?"_

_Bellatrix gave him an icy glare. "What I say is that I would prefer to do something more worthy for the master. Instead, we're walking in circles looking for the Potter brat."_

_Malfoy sneered. "You do not think this mission is important? Well then, I suggest you take your complaints to the Dark Lord."_

_Bellatrix snarled angrily. "I am no fool!"_

"_Good," Malfoy snapped, "because we cannot afford any mess ups." Suddenly Malfoy's voice turned sly. "Besides, I'm sure the Dark Lord will grant us a few…hours alone with Potter if we were to return him."_

_Bella suddenly looked bloodthirsty and her eyes held a glint of insanity. In his hiding place, Harry's blood ran cold. If it wasn't for Tagger's reassuring claw on his shoulder he would have ran and probably given himself away._

_It was strange that Tagger could touch him and only him. He could land on the ground, he just couldn't touch his clothes or any other object, just Harry, but he was thankful for the contact._

"_But you do bring up a good point earlier," Malfoy continued._

"_Oh, and what was that?" Bella asked._

"_Where is Fenir? He should have been back a while ago."_

"_Do you think he has Harry?" Wormtail asked quietly and gasped quietly as several glares focused on him._

"_For your sakes, you better hope the mutt has him," Bella snarled quietly. "I don't care if he has to drag the brat by his hair, I just want to leave and do more productive things."_

_Lucius would have rolled his eyes but refrained from doing so because he was a Malfoy and Malfoy's do not 'roll their eyes.' _

_Up in his hiding place, Harry growled softly and was about to crawl away but Tagger held up a claw, grinning evilly. "I'm sure there's an easier way of getting away."_

"_How?" Harry whispered. _

"_Oh, just a little distraction." Tagger pointed to his bag and Harry's grin got just as evil as Tagger's._

_Harry pulled out the blue and red bouncy balls Fred and George gave him, the two rubber snakes, and a few fire works. _

'_Turn on,' Harry hissed quietly and the two snakes immediately straightened up. 'I want you,' he pointed at the itching powder snake, 'to bite the blond haired man.' The snake nodded and Harry mentally reminded himself to ask the twins how they made the snakes. Pointing to the last snake, Harry whispered, 'And I want you to bite the small whiny man, but I only want you two to bite them once the two bouncy balls have gone off.'_

_The rubber snakes nodded again and started to slither down the rocks and onto the lower level of the sewer._

_Harry took the red bouncy ball and threw it at the group of Death Eaters. There was a tracking device on the balls and they would immediately go after the closest person it got to. _

_The sound of something hitting the floor caused the group to look up and despite themselves, they could only watch as the red ball bounced faster and faster in front of Crabbe. After a few seconds, the group jumped back in shock and loud curses as each member suddenly had their cloaks on fire._

"_POTTER!" Malfoy yelled. _

"_Crucio!" Bella aimed randomly and came to a stop as she saw a blue ball bounce up to her. "Oh no you don't. Reducto!" The ball did explode, but what appeared in its place was an eight foot wave of water that slammed into the group without mercy. _

_Only Malfoy and Bella managed to put up a barrier successfully. Crabbe and Goyle were water logged and had trouble getting up. Wormtail was out for the count and Harry was having trouble containing his laughter._

"_I'll kill him," Bella muttered. "I'll put him under the Cruciatus curse for hours."_

"_Enough!" Malfoy shouted. "Split up and find him!"_

_Harry smirked, his wand almost touching the tips of the fireworks. All he had to do was wait for the…BANG Aw, there it was. The snakes had exploded exactly where they needed to be. There was a large cloud of purple and pink smoke and when it cleared, Harry saw the Death Eaters scratching at themselves furiously._

_The one that bit Peter was useless since he was already knocked out and Harry wondered how the man was sorted into Gryffindor. He watched with amusement as the Death Eaters cursed everyone and everything as they danced around scratching themselves. _

"_And now for the finale," Harry said loud enough for everyone to hear. _

"_Potter!" Bella snarled but immediately gasped as several fire works went off only a little bit above them. Fire, colors of light, and loud noise erupted and Harry took that chance to run, very well aware of the looks of hatred he was receiving as he laughed his ass off mentally._

(End Flashback)

He managed to get far away from them and entered a darker part of sewer. There were hundreds of pipes everywhere. Some coming out of the ground, or the walls, the ceiling, and even the random broken one just lying on the ground.

Harry had to move carefully to avoid tripping and had to bend his body in awkward angles as he squeezed through a certain spot. After about ten minutes of maneuvering around the pipes, Harry managed to get into the very middle.

Suddenly feeling a strange prickling on his tongue, Harry stuck his tongue out and could only gap in shock as his tongue grew longer and could reach up to his eyes. The worst part was the forked tip. Harry had a snake tongue and all Tagger could do was grin ruefully at Harry who threw him a disgusted glance.

Rubbing a hand through his hair, Harry felt the long horns on his head and immediately felt two smaller ones directly beneath them. Harry groaned and stuck out his tongue once more.

"What the hell am I supposed to do about this?" Harry wondered aloud.

"To smell of course," said a voice directly above Harry. Startled Harry jerked to the left and only managed to slam his head into one of the pipes. The voice laughed and suddenly Harry noticed how the voice had a 'hiss' to it.

"Who's there?!" Harry snarled.

A long figure slithered into some of the light above Harry, wrapped around several pipes.

'_Nagini,' _Harry hissed.

'_Harry Potter,' _Nagini hissed back. The large snake slithered lower and was eye level with Harry. Harry took a step back but knocked into some more pipes. He mentally cursed. It was like he was in a jungle of vines, only these were pipes.

Nagini made another sound that sounded like laughter. _'Jumpy, are we?'_

'_Yea, well you would be too,' _Harry retorted, trying to make his way through the pipes and was annoyed the Nagini followed above him.

'_Ah, but I am not the one that is being preyed upon, Harry Potter.'_

Harry ignored the large serpent but was jerked back as Nagini's tail wrapped around his wrist and dragged him back. _'Get away from me,' _Harry said angrily, getting Nagini's tail off him. As soon as his wrist was free, Nagini made to grab his other hand but Harry ducked low and crawled through the pipes on all fours as fast as he could.

'_Oh, don't you want to play, Harry Potter?' _

Harry growled warningly and it only infuriated him more as Nagini laughed even more.

'_Leave me alone, Nagini. Why don't you go back to your master?'_

'_Tom is neither my master nor my servant.'_

'_Who said anything about a servant?' _Harry asked confused, still on the move.

'_There is always a servant if there is a master.'_

'_True…'_

Nagini slithered lower and caused Harry to stand up and jump to the left. She pushed against Harry and, determined to get away, moved farther to the left. Harry threw Tagger a glance but the dragon only shook his head. "What can I do? Just try to get away from her."

Harry pushed the snake away. _'If you are neither, then what is Tom to you?'_

'_He is my friend.'_

'_And I'm sure you're his one and only,' _Harry informed her.

'_I have no doubts about that, Harry Potter.'_

Harry, starting to realize he kept moving to the left, tried to jump to the right, but Nagini grabbed a hold of arm and continued to drag him to the left. Frustrated, Harry lashed out with his claws but only ended up making a dent in a pipe as Nagini moved her coils out of the way.

'_A little feisty, are we?' _Nagini teased.

'_What do you want?!' _Harry screamed.

'_I wish for many things, Harry Potter,' _Nagini said softly, slithering higher into the pipes. _'For instance, I would not mind a large cow for dinner tonight.'_

Harry couldn't help but snort. _'Anything else?' _he asked sarcastically.

Nagini managed to disappear from sight and Harry looked around frantically. It wasn't until he felt something wrap around his ankle was it too late. He was sent crashing down to the ground and hit his ribs on one of the pipes. Harry groaned softly.

Feeling himself be lifted into the air, Harry clawed at Nagini's tail but stopped as she said, _'I would not do that, Harry Potter, just look down.'_

Harry looked down and right underneath was a pipe sticking straight up. It was broken and had sharp edges all over it. If Nagini let go, it would impale his head or back. Harry gulped and watched as his backpack slid off and fell to the floor.

He could hear Padfoot's hoots but didn't hear anything from Kaz. Things were not looking good. He was being held upside down by a snake that was Voldemort's pet and he was pretty sure the serpent wanted to eat him.

Nagini brought her head back down to Harry's eye level and Harry lashed out once more. Nagini loosened her hold and Harry stopped moving. He was barely even breathing.

'_It would be a good idea if you do not attack me while you are in such a position,' _Nagini warned.

Harry nodded carefully and let out a soft breath of relief as Nagini tightened her hold. Harry glanced at the ground nervously and guessed he was hanging about five feet in the air. There were barely any pipes in this part. Harry glared at Nagini accusingly.

'_You led me into a trap,' _he hissed.

'_Indeed,' _Nagini said. _'As we were saying earlier, there are many things I want.'_

Harry looked confused but remembered the conversation. _'You got me up here, upside down, so you could talk to me about what you want?!" _Harry hissed angrily.

Nagini nuzzled his face teasingly and Harry tried to draw back in horror but as soon as he moved, Nagini's hold loosened some more and Harry remained still until the hold tightened once more.

'_It's not about what I want, but what you want as well, Harry Potter.'_

Harry was taken aback for a moment. _'What do you mean 'what I want,' Nagini?'_

'_Exactly as I said it. What do you want?'_

_I would like you to let me go!' _Harry snarled. To his surprise, Nagini carefully lowered him to the ground but quickly wrapped around his arms and chest and around a pipe. He was still stuck.

'_And I would also like it if you left me alone.'_

'_Tell me what you want, Harry Potter,' _Nagini persisted.

"_FINE!' _Harry screamed. _'You want to know what I want? Fine! I want to be normal! I want people to leave me alone. I want a family. I want friends who…' _but Harry cut himself off.

'_You want friend's who don't see you as the boy-who-lived,' _Nagini finished for him.

'_I didn't mean it like that!' _Harry had tears rolling down his eyes. How could he betray his friends like that? Of course they saw him as 'just Harry.'

'_Oh, but you did,' _Nagini said softly as she slowly released her hold but Harry didn't notice. He did, however, notice Tagger start to droop as if he was very tired.

'_My friends like me for who I am, not some stupid title,' _Harry said angrily.

'_I'm sure they do, Harry,' _Nagini said in a soothing voice. _'Just relax…'_

Harry did just that. He didn't notice Nagini move his body so that he was laying down, his head on top of her scales while she wrapped around his body.

'_Why are you doing this?'_

"_Because I know what I want.'_

"_I wish I could get what I want.'_

'_Oh, but you can, Harry.'_

Harry was getting tired and was about to fall asleep but managed to keep himself up. He finally noticed the position he was in and tried to fight it. Nagini didn't relinquish her grip.

'_I'll bite you if you don't release me,' _Harry told her.

Nagini hissed in amusement. _'Do not forget whose bite is worse.' _Nagini opened her mouth and long fangs gleamed in front of Harry. Harry gulped and stopped struggling.

'_What kind of snake are you, anyways? You're really long.'_

Nagini proudly brought up her head. _'I am, aren't I?' _Harry rolled his eyes, ignoring how they started to droop. He hadn't gotten any sleep within the last 24 hours. _'As for your question, I am an anaconda.'_

'_Ah.'_

Nagini started to stroke Harry's face with her tail and Harry couldn't help but reluctantly think how good it felt. Feels almost like a mothers touch, he mused.

'_What do you truly want?' _Nagini whispered.

Harry couldn't help it. He just snuggled against Nagini. _'I wish I truly knew…' _Harry said before drifting off to sleep, completely unaware of the search group, how worried his friends were, the Death Eaters, and how close Voldemort was truly getting to him.

It was a few minutes later before Nagini finally said, _'I want you, Harry Potter, because you are exactly like Tom when he was younger.'_

- - - - - - -

Well, one more chapter done! I love Nagini and I'm always disappointed when there isn't that much info about her. She will definitely be in this story a bit more than the usual story.

I will also be introducing a new and completely original character! The next chapter, will Harry be saved or caught? And what will happen during his fifth year? Next chapter will show the final outcome of this little goose chase. I was planning on it being more chapters but I'm more interested in writing about his school year than trying to live in a sewer.

So! Flames and opinions are always welcome. Suggestions are always wanted as well! Next chapter will also have a new summary (and a full one) of the story. I won't give any spoilers about what Fred and George's animagus form is. You'll find out soon though!


	5. rescue

I would like to say there will be NO SLASH. I'm pretty sure I won't make any couples in this fic. If I do I will warn you. Definitely NO Harry/Ginny. Way too many and I hate Ginny being Harry's boyfriend. Friend is ok but other than that, no.

I would like to thank everyone for their awesome reviews! It means so much and I'm sure you don't want to be bothered with an author's note so on with the story!

"Blah" –talking

"_Blah" –thinking_

'_Blah' –parseltongue _

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The feeling of a hand running through his hair brought Harry back to semi-consciousness. His eyes remained closed but he could feel the smooth floor on his skin, hear the sound of soft breathing, and felt the hand petting his head in an almost loving way. He vaguely thought that Nagini was still stroking his head but two thoughts suddenly jolted him wide awake. One: The floor was now dry and smooth. Two: Nagini didn't have hands.

Harry opened his eyes and jumped up, alert and ready for an attack. He whipped his head around as he saw a figure kneeling where he had been lying. He blinked slowly as he made out the form of a teenage girl. She wore green khaki pants and a black shirt that said 'Animal' in white. What surprised Harry the most was that this girl had long feline ears that shot up pretty high on her head and a tail that reach her knees.

The girl shot him a quizzical look as he inspected her before smiling widely, revealing large fangs. "Well, hey there, Stray."

Harry barely had a time to comprehend what just happened when a small being hit him in the face. "You're ok!" Kaz screamed, hugging his snout. …Wait, _snout?_ Harry moved Kaz away from his face searched frantically for a type of mirror. After seeing a puddle, Harry moved away from the confused girls.

"What happened to me?" Harry asked out loud. The new girl that Harry had yet to identify walked to his side and stared at him in the puddle.

"Uhh, can you define 'happen?'" she asked jokingly.

Harry sighed and ran a hand over a large snout. Apparently he had transformed quite a bit when he was out. His entire face was that of a dragons'. He had a medium sized snout that curved down almost beak-like, two large fangs poking out. Black scales surrounded his entire face while a few green ones were under his chin/snout. Spikes had also sprouted on his back, beginning between his shoulder blades down to his tail. He still had his messy hair and his ears had grown longer and pointy, black scales covering them both.

"Hey!" Kaz shouted angrily. "Why did you push me away like that, huh?"

"Eh, sorry, Kaz," Harry said slowly. "I was a little shocked when I woke up looking like I am." Harry turned to the strange cat girl. "Sorry about that, I was a little rude," Harry said nervously, not knowing if she was an enemy or not.

The girl laughed. "Not a problem, Stray. Kaz told me about your animagus transformation." She waved her hand toward the small fairy and Harry shot her a glare for telling this stranger what was happening.

Kaz ignored the glare and said, "You're almost done transforming! I think all that's left are the wings."

Harry grinned. "Do you really think that's all that's left?"

The girl circled him slowly. "Hmm, probably, I've been around many dragon demons and it looks like all you need are the wings." The girl stopped and extended a hand. The nails were quite thick and sharp. A quick glance at her bare feet told her toe nails were probably just as sharp. "By the way, my name is Ash."

Harry shook her hand, smiling. "Nice to meet you. My name is Harry." Harry looked at her for a moment. "Is that just a nickname or is your real name?"

Ash giggled. "Nickname. I don't have a real name, same goes for most of my friends. We prefer nicknames because they are wanted, get what I mean, Stray?"

Harry lifted an eyebrow, or what are really just scales above his eye. "So…I guess you're going to keep calling me Stray?"

"Yep!" Ash replied cheerfully.

"Any reason why?"

Ash gave him a look that seemed to say, 'Isn't it obvious?' "Cuz I found you," she said simply. "All alone, almost as if abandoned in those pipes."

"Oh gosh!" Harry had completely forgotten the incident. "You didn't happen to see a large snake, or perhaps some figures in black wearing masks?"

Ash shook her head. "You were all alone. The only reason I even found you was because she," Ash pointed to Kaz, "was making one hell of a racket."

Kaz scowled angrily. "Yes, well, you would too if you were trapped in a smelly backpack."

Harry's eyes widened and Harry looked around for his bag. "Ash, do you know what happened to my…" Harry stopped talking as Ash held out his bag, Padfoot hooting happily from his pocket. "Thank you," he said gratefully.

"No prob," Ash said happily, Kaz fluttering around her head.

Harry grew a little uncomfortable. "Uh, you wouldn't happen to know the way out of here, would you?"

"Yea, it's back down a way's," Ash said carefully. "You looked like you were heading the wrong way, the way you were in those pipes."

"Yea, about that," Harry said slowly. "I was just trying to get away from Nagini, a large snake."

Ash's ear twitched with interest. "Yea, you said that earlier. Mind telling me what's going on?"

You mean you don't know?" Harry asked surprised. "I thought Kaz explained everything to you."

Kaz shook her head. "Ash has only been with us for twenty minutes. I only told her about the werewolf and that you're not a demon."

"You told her that!" Harry yelled, angry that Kaz would tell that he had actually murdered someone. "How could you even mention that?!"

"So that was your first kill, huh?" Ash said carelessly.

Harry's head snapped at her. He didn't even realize he was growling. Ash took an unconscious step back, amazed that she felt a little fear when she stared at this strange being. True that he had transformed, like Kaz told her, but he was still a… whatever he was before the transformation.

Harry's fist slammed against the wall, making a hole. Harry wasn't even worried that he barely felt anything. "What I did was a mistake. He had a life and I took it from him. I had no right…" Harry shook his head. "How dare you act like it didn't even matter?"

Ash folded her hands. "Well, if you didn't want to kill anyone, why did you carry weapon? Huh? Huh!?"

Harry looked down, ashamed. "For protection…"

Ash put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it's ok. Kaz told me what happened. You had every right, no matter what you might think. That sorry excuse for a wolf demon tried to kill you. It's basically survival of the fittest for you at the moment and you followed your instincts. You fought to _survive._"

Harry shrugged.

"Don't worry about it, Stray," Ash said happily, pulling him into one armed hug. "What's done is done."

"She's right, Harry," came a voice and Harry jumped. He glared at the owner of the voice. He gave a look that said, 'Where have you been?!'

Tagger smirked. "Don't worry, _Stray._" Harry scowled at the dragon but the others didn't notice. "Apparently I'm able to go into your mind when either you or I go to sleep." Harry stared. "I know, pretty cool, huh?"

Harry rolled his eyes and stared at Tagger, annoyed that his long snout was starting to get in the way. He guessed it would be something he would have to get used to.

"And you should listen to her," Tagger continued. "That kill does not make you the bad guy. You were only trying to survive. He attacked you and you defended yourself, nothing more."

Harry's eyes practically gleamed with gratitude before turning his attention back to Ash. She was still going on about how a kill for survival was no big deal.

"Ya know, the damn Ministry should have been keeping a watch on those wannabe demons," Ash continued. "Why, I should kick their ass…"

Harry rolled his eyes and smiled. He liked this girl a lot. She was definitely interesting. "So, Ash, how about that exit?"

"Eh? Oh yea! And you still gotta' tell me what's going on."

"Well, to sum it all up, a guy named Voldemort is after me," Harry said casually.

Ash paused mid step before rolling her eyes. "Right, like I'm supposed to believe that pitiful _lord_ is down here, looking for you, ordering his…what do you call 'em again? Ah! Death Eaters. So, he's got his weak little cronies after you as well?"

"Yep!" Harry replied in the same happy voice Ash used earlier.

Ash laughed. "Sure, whatever, Stray."

Kaz landed on her shoulder in anger. "He's telling the truth, wolf. So either get your ass out of the ground and show us the way to the exit, or you can just leave."

Ash put her hands up in mock defeat. "Whoa, whoa, I didn't mean nothing." She grinned before turning serious. "You mean that guy is really down here?"

Harry turned serious again. "He is and he's after me." Harry lifted his left leg so his foot could rest on a rock. He pointed to the manacle and said, "See that? The git put this on me, saying it could control me."

"Can it?" Ash whispered curiously.

Harry shrugged. "When he told me to stop, my body stopped moving. I could feel magic moving throughout my body, forcing it to stop. When he told me a bigger order, I managed to refuse."

"That's good, right?"

Harry shook his head. "He has three other manacles and a collar. They--"

"What did you say?!" Ash snapped, interrupting Harry.

"What?" Harry was completely bewildered.

"Did you just say that…_human_ is trying to put a collar on you?"

Harry nodded slowly. "I guess so."

Ash grabbed his hand, dragging him forward as she started walking. Kaz gave a small gasp as she was almost thrown off Ash's shoulder. "The nerve of him. A human…"

"You know," Harry said quietly. "I'm human too."

Ash stopped moving and faced him, peering at him. "Liar," she said after a while.

Harry shook his head. "I'm telling the truth." He ran a hand along his snout when a thought hit him. "You don't know what an animagus is, do you?"

Ash scowled angrily but finally shook her head.

"It's a human that has the ability to transform into an animal."

Ash glared at him accusingly. "Ok, but your not an animal, you're a demon."

Harry rubbed his head sheepishly. "I've never heard of another animagus like me. Actually, I only know three others but one is dead, one's a traitor and the other is my godfather. Well, they only turn into regular animals, and my inner animal is supposed to be a dragon."

Ash looked surprised when he said that. "You know about inner animals?" she asked eagerly.

"Um, not really," Harry confessed. "Just the little info my inner animal told me." Harry snapped his mouth shut, afraid he said too much."

"You didn't tell me about this," Kaz said bitterly.

Harry threw her a glance before shrugging. "Sorry."

"Forget about it," Ash said for Kaz. She turned to Harry before quirking a brow. "So, a human, huh?"

Harry frowned. "What's wrong with that?"

"Everything," Ash growled.

"Why?" Harry snapped back.

"Because you're talking to me." Ash looked away.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, confused.

"You're kind, all of them!" Ash glared. "Think their better than us even though us demons are stronger and more resourceful."

"I never said you weren't!" Harry sighed. "Wait, earlier, did Kaz say you were a wolf?"

"I..wait…what?"

"Kaz called you wolf, earlier," Harry said.

"Yea, I am a wolf demon."

Harry blushed. "Sorry, but I thought you were a cat."

Ash stared at him almost disbelievingly before her eyes widened in shock. "Oh, you did NOT just call me a cat!" She started whacking Harry on he back half heartedly and Harry laughed.

"Sorry! It's just your ears," Harry said lamely.

Ash stopped whacking him and gazed at him warily but smiled nonetheless when she saw how genuine his eyes were. She laughed softly. "My gramps is a cat demon who married a wolf demon. They had a little girl who married another wolf demon and then the two had yours truly.

Harry grinned. "So you got your grandpa's ears?"

Ash giggled. "Yea," she said as she poked at long, black ear. "Same with the tail length. It's still a wolf tail that has a cat's length."

"Ah." Harry looked at her seriously. "I'm not like other humans," he said quietly.

"I can tell…"

Harry extended his hand. Ash stared at it. This time it was she who was being asked to accept. She stared into his eyes. Such beautiful green eyes... They held so much sincerity that Ash knew he wasn't trying to deceive her. Slowly, she raised her hand and shook his firmly.

"Nice to meet you," she said sarcastically but smiled happily.

Harry laughed. "Nice to meet you too, my name is Harry Potter."

Ash released his hand, staring at him in shock. "No way…"

Harry could groan as Tagger erupted in roars of laughter.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

'_Nagini,_' Voldemort hissed softly.

A large snake curled around him, coming up to eye level._ 'Tom,' _she greeted.

'_Where is he?' _Voldemortasked softly, words laced with anger.

'_Oh, around,' _Nagini said with a small hiss._ 'I left him an hour ago. I'm sure he's long gone by now.'_

'_Seven hours, Nagini,' _Voldemort said angrily.

'_What?'_

'_Seven hours is how long Potter has been gone. Seven hours ago he should have been mine.' _Nagini slid off Voldemort and came to rest at his feet._ 'Seven hours,' _Voldemort continued_, 'he's had to come in contact with Dumbledore.'_

'_Yes, your enemy is indeed in the sewers.' _Voldemort glared at her accusingly_. 'I had nothing to do with them, Tom. The old one has others with him, but Harry is no where near him.'_

'_I can only assume I'm no closer then.'_

'_Perhaps…' _Nagini trailed off. _'He is almost fully transformed. You would do well to put the manacles on before you have no control over him.'_

'_I have never had any true control over the boy,' _Voldemort admitted grudgingly. _'These manacles, although powerful, can be broken. Knowing that Potter can break the Imperius curse, he will soon find a way to break them.'_

'_You sound as if you want that to happen.'_

'_I find it will be most interesting, for even I do not know the secrets of the manacles. Potter will bend to my will, with or without the power of the manacles. Our bond has grown stronger over the summer.'_

'_An interesting way to get what you want,' _Nagini said slowly.

Voldemort glared at the large serpent. _'Do not forget who the one in charge is, Nagini. The boy is not for you. He is mine and I will do as I choose. He is mine to break, to mold, to control.'_

'_Very well, Tom,' _Nagini conceded. It would not be good to upset Tom. She was already on thin ice. Tom would capture Harry and she would still be in his presence, surrounded by his powerful magic. It was wild and untamed. Just thinking about what it felt like only an hour ago brought shivers to Nagini.

'_Come, Nagini,' _Voldemort hissed. _'You will lead the way. He is closer than you could possibly think.'_

'_Of course, Tom.'_

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

"…and we have this big shop in Diagon Alley. Kinda near Knockturn Alley," Ash finished.

While walking, the two had decided to play twenty questions. Harry had just asked her what she did and where demons usually stayed. There were much more demons than Harry could have imagined. It was all so interesting, being told about yet another world.

"So why are you called Ash?" Harry asked.

"Well, does Ashes or Ashy sound good to you?" Ash asked. Harry thought about it before shaking his head. "Didn't think so. Well, I already told you about owning the garage and the small shop." Harry nodded. "I'm the one that works with the furnace or anything involving fire or bending or melting steel. Usually by the end of the day, I'm covered in soot and ash."

"So that's how you got your nickname?" Harry laughed.

"Yea, well, better than some others. We got about six of us in total. Four always work in the garage while two manage the shop. The shop is new so we don't have much business."

"Why are you doing so much?" Harry asked.

Ash grinned slyly. "That's two questions you owe me now. "About that question, see, we're all orphans, having met about two years back. Since we're orphans, we got no money, we just happen to have some brains about muggle cars and technology, we got to planning. So, a year and a half later, we open the garage to muggle London. We get some good business."

"That's pretty interesting. Sometimes I have to fix my Uncles oil or some other engine part when it's on the frizzle," Harry said.

"Your Uncle makes you do that? Wow, I bet my Uncle would've never let me deal with his belongings."

Harry shrugged carelessly. "Your turn," he told her.

"Oh yes indeed," she grinned. "Why didn't you attack me when you first saw me?"

"I didn't know if you were an enemy or not," Harry said truthfully. "I was kind of freaking out, seeing my face like that." Harry rubbed his snout and stared at his now four fingered hands.

"Eh, don't worry about it, Stray," Ash said. "If you ever come around the shop, I'm sure the others would like you. They would be a little surprised you're human but they'll get over it."

"Why are demons so against humans?" Harry asked.

Ash shrugged. "Most of the time we're not even allowed in shops. People always glare and despise what's different. One look at us and they think we're nothing but bloodthirsty monsters."

Harry scowled. "Are you treated like that all the time?"

"More often than not," Ash said. "Demons get business in Knockturn Alley since anyone or any_thing_ can get stuff down there. We're able to change into a full human form to hide from others but most have too much pride. It's not always a good thing, otherwise you won't get business. That's how we deal with the muggles."

"Well, I hope someday the world won't be so prejudice," Harry said.

"You know," Kaz said slowly. "I think some creatures just haven't met the right people yet." Harry looked at her as she smiled kindly at him.

"Yea, maybe you're right," Ash said, grinning happily with her arms behind her head. "Just gotta find the right people, right, Stray?"

"Yea." Harry smiled.

They walked in a comfortable silence before a large explosion brought them to the ground in shock.

"What the hell was that?!" Kaz screamed.

"Sounds like a battle," Ash said grimly. "So much for looking for the legendary river of wine." The two looked at her strangely. "What? That's why I was down here in the first place."

"We need to go check it out," Harry said before coughing harshly.

"You ok?" Ash patted his back.

Harry covered his mouth and coughed for a few more seconds before pulling his hand away, staring at it in shock. There was some blood on it. He hid it quickly and replied, "Yea, I'm fine. Let's just go see if it's Professor Dumbledore."

Ash and Kaz nodded and led the way. Harry, in the back, glanced at Tagger worriedly.

"Your transformation should be done soon," Tagger told him. "Your body is preparing itself for some last minute changes."

Harry nodded, angry that he wouldn't be able to say anything until later. He had so many questions!

Running to catch up with his new friends, Harry could only gawk at the battle. True, there weren't that many people, but it was intense none the less. Harry had no idea who the people who were fighting the Death Eaters were but he was pretty sure he saw Alastor Moody.

A stray spell almost hit Harry in the face so he grabbed Ash and pulled her away. "C'mon," he hissed. "We need to get out of here."

He continued to drag her away until he heard her give a faint gasp of pain. "Harry," Kaz said. "Her arm is hurt."

Harry turned to look at her and growled angrily when he saw the deep cuts on her arm. "I got hit with a stray curse," she muttered angrily. "I'm ok, it's just a scratch."

Harry didn't say anything. He just pulled his bandana out of his pocket and wrapped it tightly around her arm. "Keep this tight," he told her.

"Er, thanks, Harry." Ash suddenly scowled. "I'm fine though."

"It's just to stop the bleeding," Harry said. "We need to--" Harry suddenly brought his hand to his scar. "He's getting close," he whispered.

Ash grabbed him this time and started dragging him along. "Harry," she started urgently. "If we get separated, don't look for each other, we'll only get caught that way. Just send a letter in two days. We'll try to meet at the shop."

"Got ya," Harry said. They were in the middle of the battle now. Dodging curses, the three managed to get around most of the fighters. Unfortunately, they were noticed.

"What the hell is that?!"

"Is it with You-Know-Who?!"

"Curse it!"

Harry scowled angrily. He hadn't even done anything! Seeing Ash's angry look, he could tell this was why she didn't like humans. He pushed Ash out of the way, Kaz attached to her arm, as several curses, by both sides, came their way.

"I'm not even attacking you!" Harry growled at the others. For a brief moment, he wondered if his voice had changed. He ran down a different part of the sewers, meeting Ash's eye on the other side. They would meet at the shop if able to.

"You ok, Harry?" Tagger asked.

"I'm fine," Harry panted. The only thing that hit him was a stray cutting curse. Harry gasped, holding his scar once more. "He's close," he gritted out.

Walking through some water, Harry came to a ledge just above the battle. He turned around, looking for a way out. The pain in his scar was getting worse. It was starting to get so bad that his eyes watered.

"He's so close!" Harry snarled at Tagger. Fear gutted at his stomach but he still ran forward.

"You can make it, Harry," Tagger encouraged. "Just look for a face you recognize."

"And then what?" Harry snapped. "I can't exactly go up to them looking like this!" Harry suddenly fell to his knees. His scar was on fire and his back suddenly felt like it was being pulled out by a troll. He rolled on the ground, gasping in pain.

"Harry, hold on!" Tagger called, gliding by Harry's head in worry. "You're almost done! You're getting your wings. Just hold on." Tagger continued to mutter words of encouragement.

Harry didn't answer. He just lay on his stomach, breathing harshly. His scar had clamed down a bit, now only being a dull throb. Harry took that as a good sign but when a pair of black, expensive boots stopped about a foot away from his face, Harry looked up into the eyes of Lord Voldemort.

"Hello, Harry."

Harry nearly gagged in disbelief. Was there some God out there that hated him? Harry tried to push himself up, unwilling to look weak at Voldemort's feet. He managed to get to his hands and knees before a cold hand held his chin firmly (or was it his snout?) Harry looked up.

Voldemort was kneeling, his cold hand feeling oddly comforting against his scales. He was burning up and Harry was pretty sure he had a small fever. The pain from Voldemort's touch wasn't as bad as normal which was a bonus.

"I found you at last," Voldemort whispered.

"Do you have any idea how creepy that sounds?" Harry asked, praying for a miracle.

Voldemort chuckled. "So, finally transformed at last?" Voldemort pulled Harry's face closer. Harry pulled away with a yelp, his hands grasping at his back. There was a brief pause before a horrible retching sound echoed throughout the sewer. Harry watched with pain filled eyes as a long, leathery wing ripped out of his shoulder blade.

It stood up in the air and Harry carefully stretched it out slowly, letting a few droplets of blood hit the floor. Harry choked on a sob as the second wing ripped out of his back. He let them fall, spread out on the ground. Harry was only vaguely aware of Voldemort grabbing him by the horn and pulling him to his feet.

Voldemort un-strapped Harry's backpack (although how Harry still had the blasted bird was beyond Voldemort) and dropped it on the ground. Padfoot remained quiet, used to being bounced around. Harry protested weakly as Voldemort wrapped one arm around his body and dragged him toward the battle.

"Do you know why all those people are here, fighting my Death Eaters?" Voldemort asked.

"N…no," Harry said weakly.

"Those are all aurors, here to protect there savior," Voldemort snarled. Harry flinched, his head hitting Voldemort's chest. This was so embarrassing, having Voldemort carry him.

Harry tried to stand up properly but Voldemort continued to drag him toward the others. Harry coughed violently and coughed up some more blood. Voldemort paid no mind. Harry assumed he was so used to the sight of blood it didn't matter.

"What are…aurors doing here?" Harry asked, his weak growing hoarse. He had a huge headache growing and Voldemort's touch wasn't helping.

"Dumbledore sent them," Voldemort said coldly. "The old fool is here, fighting desperately to save his little puppet."

"I am not his puppet!" Harry snarled. Voldemort moved his free hand closer to Harry's scar. Harry stared at the hand, fear glowing in his eyes. Voldemort paused in his steps.

"It hurt's, doesn't it?" Voldemort said softly. "Not just my touch, but knowing the little fact that your beloved Headmaster is just using you."

"He would never use me," Harry snarled, still staring at the hand that could bring him so much pain. Harry suddenly coughed again. This time it lasted longer and Harry had to close his eyes as he felt his skin prickle. When he opened his eyes, there was no longer a long snout that blocked his view. His eyes gazed down at his hands and saw that he once again had five fingers. He was back to normal.

Now all he had to do was get rid of Voldemort.

"Interesting," Voldemort said softly, continuing his walk. He waved his wand over Harry, fixing the holes in his shirt and pants. Thank goodness too. Having a huge hole in the back of his pants would have been bad.

"Why?" Harry groaned. He was still held limply in Voldemort's grip. Not only did his headache increase and body practically scream in pain, he was blind. With a start, Harry realized all his senses had returned to normal.

"Why do you think, Harry?" Voldemort said. "You, the only one to ever block the killing curse and give me so much pain, are the only one capable of destroying me. Dumbledore knows this, so he trains you."

"I don't believe you," Harry said, practically on the brink of unconsciousness.

"And you shouldn't," a harsh but kind voice proclaimed behind them.

Voldemort spun around angrily, his grip tightening on Harry. "Dumbledore," he spat.

"Tom," Dumbledore greeted. Harry rolled his eyes. It sounded like an invitation to tea rather than a cry for battle.

"Let go," Harry snarled, struggling to get out of Voldemort's grip.

Voldemort just grabbed Harry's left hand and lifted him up in front of him, smirking at Dumbledore. "Even if you save little Harry here, what makes you think he won't come back to me?"

"I trust Harry's judgment, Tom," Dumbledore said gravely. "I know he will never join you." Dumbledore took out his wand.

Voldemort narrowed his eyes dangerously. "You assume too much, old man. Our bond is already strong. He will soon learn who his master is soon enough."

Harry glared blearily at Voldemort. Without his glasses, all he could see was fuzzy blotches. One gold blotch caught his attention. Just then, Harry understood why Voldemort had made him so weak. It was so he could cuff him with one of those manacles in front of Dumbledore. Before he could say a word, he felt the cold metal snap over his wrist and Dumbledore's angry shout.

He barely felt himself being shoved against the wall or watching Voldemort and Dumbledore duel it out. Visions of a glass box and a caged door closing flashed in his mind. He was silently aware of a phoenix song.

Harry blinked his blurry eyes. A red smudge appeared in front of his face. "Fawkes?" Harry asked tiredly. Fawkes trilled quietly and Harry felt the great phoenix push his glasses against his face. Harry put them on tiredly.

"Where did you get my glasses?" Harry asked. Fawkes gave what looked like a bird version of a shrug. He saw a smaller bird next to him. "Hedwig!" Harry cried cheerfully. She stood proudly, a black backpack by her feet as a small head poked out of one of the pockets. "Padfoot!"

Hedwig flapped on his shoulder and gave him a loving look, nipping his ear fondly. Harry stood up somewhat wobbly, his bag in his hands. Fawkes perched on his other shoulder. The weight comforted Harry but he still felt feverish, and he was very worried about Kaz and Ash.

Trilling once more, Fawkes teleported Harry out of the sewers and into one of the beds at Hogwarts. None of this registered in Harry's mind as he closed his eyes, sounds everywhere as Harry drifted into the wonderful land of unconsciousness.

- - - - - - - -

"_Reducto!" _Voldemort snarled angrily only to watch it bounce off Dumbledore's shield.

"You can't win, Tom," Dumbledore said sagely.

"And how do you not know if I have already won?" Voldemort taunted.

"Harry won't be turned. He will never listen to you. He knows the real you."

Voldemort glared at the old man. He raised his wand and a large snake shot out, wrapping around Dumbledore only to have him disappear in a flash of fire. Fawkes the phoenix stood proudly on Dumbledore's shoulder.

Dumbledore smiled. "It seems Harry is safe. Your plan has failed."

"Ahh, but what if that was a part of my plan all along, Dumbledore?" Tom asked wisely.

Dumbledore only chuckled. "Oh, Tom, you and I both know how obsessive you are."

Voldemort scowled angrily. "We shall see, Dumbledore, we shall see." Voldemort disappeared with a small 'pop.'

Dumbledore sighed tiredly. He turned worn out eyes toward Fawkes. "Lead the way, old friend." Fawkes trilled happily, teleporting them both out of the sewers.

- - - - - - - - -

Harry felt a wet cloth against his as he slowly opened his eyes. "Aw, awake are you?" said a voice. "Good, I've seen too much of you."

Harry opened his eyes up fully and saw the school nurse. "Madame Pomfrey?"

She smiled kindly at him. "Yes, Mr. Potter, it's me."

"What happened?" he asked.

Madam Pomfrey sighed tiredly. "When Professor Dumbledore's phoenix dropped you off, I had to sedate you. You had an extremely high temperature and a strange rash on your back." Harry gulped. "You started yelling in parseltongue while unconscious. To tell you the truth, it frightened me so much I had to put a silencing charm around you."

Harry frowned. Why on earth would he talk in parseltongue? He couldn't recall any dreams. He shifted his arms and legs. He felt great! "How long have I been in here?"

Madam Pomfrey frowned. "Only five hours. That worries me because your temperature shouldn't even be broken and yet you look like you could fight off a troll—don't get any ideas, Potter!"

Harry grinned innocently. "Well, I guess I've just always been a fast healer. Are my friends here? Are Padfoot and Hedwig ok? When can I leave?"

"Slow down, Potter. Your friends are here but the Headmaster would like to speak with you first. As for your owls, they're fine. Hagrid was kind enough to build them a nest." She stared at Harry appraisingly. "How you got both that owl and yourself out of that mess is beyond me."

Harry squirmed under her gaze. He looked at the floor, suddenly ashamed. "Are the Dursley's… are they dead?"

"No, Mr. Potter, they are fine." Harry let out a breath of relief. "However, there is a problem." Harry's eyes snapped up to meet hers.

"What is it?"

"The Headmaster will fill you in on everything."

"But--"

"No 'buts,' Mr. Potter. Personally, I would rather have you wait a day but that headmaster of ours is bent on telling you now."

Harry scowled at the nurse. He grumbled a bit before asking, "Is everyone else alright?"

This time Pomfrey smiled at him. "Everyone is just fine, Mr. Potter."

Harry nodded and closed his eyes in thought. It wasn't until he heard the door open did he reopen them. In came a grim looking Dumbledore. "I suppose it's time, isn't it?" Pomfrey asked dryly.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes, Poppy. Don't worry, he'll still be in bed by the time you get back."

Madame Pomfrey fixed Dumbledore with a fierce glare. "See that you do." She left without another word.

Harry looked at the Headmaster with eagerness. He was finally safe and now Dumbledore could answer his many questions. "Professor, I--" Harry started but Dumbledore cut him off.

"It's a beautiful day, isn't, Harry?" Harry, caught off guard, could only look out the window before nodding his head slowly. "It grieves me, that on such a beautiful day, that I have to tell many things that I had wished could have waited."

Harry remained silent. He stared at the Headmaster, a little annoyed he didn't even look at him. "Now how do you like that?" Tagger suddenly said, reappearing out of thin air. "After all that and he doesn't even look at you? Sheesh."

Harry couldn't help but agree it was a little rude of Dumbledore but didn't say anything.

"Voldemort was able put two manacles on you, giving him a little control over you." Dumbledore brought Harry's left hand up to his face, his eyes no longer twinkling. "Tom certainly picked an interesting weapon." Harry flinched.

"Sir, how do these things even control me? I can fight off the Imperius curse but with these I am barely able to fight off his commands."

Dumbledore released his hand and walked to the window, still not looking at Harry. "There is hardly any research about these manacles, Harry, but from what I have gathered; magic from the one who put the manacles on you controls not your mind, but your nerves."

"My nerves?" Harry gawked.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, the creators were able to carve runes on the manacles, allowing magic to seep through three objects."

"And what are those?" Harry asked hurriedly before remembering who he was talking to. "Sir?"

Dumbledore suddenly looked older than Harry had ever seen him. "The master, the manacles, and the servant."

"He is not my master!" Harry snapped.

"I know that, Harry." Harry scowled angrily at the Headmaster. Why did he not even look at him? "The manacles, however, do not know that."

Harry's anger evaporated and Harry gave Tagger a scared glance. Tagger nuzzled his cheek in support. They sat in silence for the next few minutes.

"Sir, what about the Dursley's?"

"The Dursley's will live, Harry. They have been moved to a new home, along with new wards protecting them. They rather like the new house."

Harry fidgeted. "I can't go back anymore, sir. The blood wards don't work anymore since Voldemort has my blood."

"I am aware of that, Harry." The words seemed kind of final so Harry stayed quiet. "Even if that was not the case, you would still have to find new living arrangements."

"Sir?" Harry said slowly.

"The Dursley's have signed emancipation papers for you. Because of the events that have taken place, they…decided it was no longer safe for you to be with them."

There was a loooong silence that time.

Harry suddenly glanced at Tagger. Two huge smiles appeared on their faces. Basically the Dursley's didn't want him anywhere near them, thinking it was all his fault, but that didn't matter because… "I no longer have to live with the Dursley's anymore!" Harry jumped on his bed in excitement, Tagger doing flips in the air. "I can finally leave!" Harry turned, grinning at Dumbledore but that smile suddenly disappeared as he saw how serious he looked.

And he still wasn't looking at Harry.

"There is still the matter of where you will live," he said. "Naturally, the ministry is aware of your emancipation but has turned a blind eye toward _why _you have been emancipated."

Harry's jaw dropped. "You mean they don't believe Voldemort is back?!" For some reason, Harry thought he heard laughter but suddenly shook that off as Dumbledore started talking.

"Yes, Minister Fudge is being rather difficult. His refusal to believe Voldemort's return is falling into his favor. Tom will be able to recruit others while the ministry remains blind."

Harry scowled so loud that it could have been mistaken as a growl.

"We will have to find you a home soon, Harry, or the Minister will assign a Pureblood family to adopt you." Harry's eyes widened. "Yes, this is indeed bad news. If you cannot show the ministry you are safe and having living arrangements, they will bring you to court with at least four Pureblood families."

"But, Sir!"

"That is why we are making wards around the Burrow. Harry, you will be able to live with the Weasely's during the summer."

Harry, for some reason, didn't feel all that excited. He sort of felt like he had just been bought but didn't say anything.

"However, on a much happier note, your friends are here to see you." Dumbledore got up and made his way to the door, opening it and showing a very worried family of Weasely's, Hermione, Remus, and Sirius.

Harry grinned widely. "Hey guys. Can you believe I'm in here before school even started?" This caused everyone to laugh and crowd around his bed. Harry was only vaguely aware of seeing a grinning Fred and George with two ghost figures above their heads before Hermione and Ron cut off his air supply.

"It's good to see you guys too," Harry said weakly. Hermione and Ron had him in a bone breaking hug. He could only widen his eyes in horror as Mrs. Weasely came into view, eyes full of worry.

Harry sighed. He was happy his friends were here, but he couldn't help but think about a certain letter he needed to write.

Screw two day's, he was worried about his new friends right now.

- - - - - - - -

Somewhere in Knockturn Alley, a figure entered a shop that was somewhat clean to the ordinary dirty alley.

Ash entered the small shop she and a few friends owned. Taking in a deep breath, she screamed, "Hey guys! I'm back!" There was a resounding crash in the garage area as five people surrounded a very amused Ash.

Kaz fluttered above her head as she saw several demons looking both angry and worried. "Did you guys miss me?" Ash asked sweetly before being drowned out by her angry friends.

"Do you have any idea how worried we were?"

"Where have you been?"

"What's with the fairy?"

"Who did you snog this time?"

Ash scowled at the last remark. "No one, not that it's any of your business."

The one who asked that question, grinned. He was a large alligator demon. Basically he was an alligator walking on two feet with clothes on. His name was Jack, one of her best mate's.

"Ash, where have you been? Do you have any idea how worried we were?" Ah, that would be Hop, an Australian Kangaroo mouse. She stood at a good six feet, towering over Ash but her kind face didn't frighten Ash at all.

"Oi, Ash, you do realize it was your turn to do the dishes, right?" Ash giggled. Good old Gadget. He looked more human than Ash did. He had black spiky hair with long, pointy ears. He had a pair of goat horns on his head. Several tools adjourned his belt, something he had on 24/7.

"Yea, man."

"Not a man!" Ash snapped. Geeze, did Jay have to say that all the time. Jay was... actually, not even Jay knew what he was. He had a purple dragonish body with a pair of what looked like a mix dragonfly and bat wings. He also had two black antennas on his head. He could've been mistaken as a bug demon but his tail, while slick and whip like, seemed to split up in two near the end.

Nobody ever asked how it happened. Jay just said he was born with his tail like that. Aw well, what did they know? They were just orphans, after all.

"Explain yourself," a harsh voice snapped. Ash smiled innocently at her other best mate.

"Of course, Switch."

Switch was a dragon demon. She had red scales, whose, unlike Harry's, were smooth, very much like a lizards. Her hair was dyed black and orange, making it almost look like fire. Her hair only went down a little past her neck. Black, armor like scales seemed to glare out at everyone under her eyes, across her face and a little up her forehead. She had long, well muscled wings and the most noticeable trait was that she always wore a scowl.

"Ok, sit down everyone!" Ash said cheerfully. "Boy, do I have story for you! First of all, this I Kaz," she gestured at the small fairy that waved cheerfully.

"Hello, Kaz," was everyone's droned response.

Laughing softly, Ash said, "Guess what happened in the sewers!"

"Why were you in the sewers?" Jay suddenly asked.

"You weren't looking for that stupid river of wine legend, were you?" Switch asked with a frown on her face.

"…No!"

Switch only rolled her eyes.

"So what happened?" Jack asked.

"Well, see there were these Death Eaters," Ash began dramatically but was interrupted by Switch.

"Those are Voldemort's supporters, Ash. You know that demons have decided not to get involved."

Ash waved her hand in dismissal. "Let me finish. See, I met this guy…" Jay and Hop rolled their eyes.

"…he's really hot! Switch, I want you to meet him!"

Switch raised a reptilian eyebrow, her yellowish blue eyes glowing. "Any particular reason?"

"Well," Ash began hesitantly, "he's a human."

Voices broke out among the group. Jay and Gadget were wondering why she was with a human and Hop asking if she was ok.

"Shut it everyone!" Ash glared at them all. "He practically saved my life. There was this big battle going down in the sewers. He had met up with Kaz earlier, "she pointed at Kaz, "and then I met him in this jungle of pipes."

"Jungle of pipes," Jay and Jack repeated.

"Shuddup!" Ash giggled at the two. "Well, you guy's know what an animagus is, right?"

They all nodded.

"What?" Ash was horrified. "Why did you guy's know? I didn't know what it was until today!"

"That's because you're an idiot," Switch muttered.

Ash stuck out her tongue. "You know you love me." She turned her attention back to the rest. "See, not only was he a nice guy, which totally surprised me, he wasn't even prejudice!" The others glanced at each other. "He also helped me when I got hurt by a stray curse."

She lifted her arm up to show the bloody bandana. Hop immediately got up to fetch the first aid, worry all over her face.

"Where are you going with all this?" Switch asked, her arms folded and her eyes narrowed. Her long, oval shaped ears were folded against her head in thought. Ash didn't answer right away, mentally poking Switchs' ears. She liked how they were a red oval shape with black around the tip. A lot like Mushu the dragon.

Switch, seeing Ash lose focus, slapped her. Ash pouted when she came back to reality.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "Anyway, I didn't know he was an animagus at first because I thought he was a demon."

"Ash," Gadget began, "humans can only turn into animals, not demons."

"I know…ok I didn't know that but he was! He was a human who could turn into a demon!"

"What makes you think it wasn't just a demon trying to pull your leg?" Hop asked as she started to clean up the wound. "You're lucky he was such a quick thinker. Anymore blood loss and you could've had a serious infection."

Ash paled at the thought. "I swear he was. Besides, do we know any demons that would purposely say they were human?" The others just shrugged.

"So you're saying a human can turn into a demon," Switch said slowly. "I'm still not seeing where you're going with this."

"He might come over for a visit!" Kaz said.

"…WHAT!" was everyone's response.

Ash winced at the noise level. "See, I told him all about the shop. He seemed pretty interested and during the fight I told him if we got separated to write back in two days and try to meet each other at the shop."

As soon as she finished her sentence a white owl flew through an open window and landed in front of Ash.

Ash stared at it for a second. "Dude!" Jay yelled. "You can make owls appear!" He was then whacked over the head by Jack.

"No you idiot," Ash muttered. She opened the letter. "It's from him."

"You never said his name," Switch said carefully.

"Guess I didn't. First off, you know how I said I wanted you to meet him Switch?" She nodded carefully. "He can turn into a dragon demon! Neat, huh?"

The others just gawked.

Switch narrowed her already narrowed eyes so that they looked like slits. "First off, I don't believe you."

"What!"

"Let me finish!" Switch snapped angrily. "Why are you getting all buddy-buddy with him anyway?"

Ash sighed tiredly and sat down. She looked at everyone with such seriousness they all knew it would be good to listen.

"Listen, this Voldemort guy is spreading. He's already going to the vampires and werewolves. The only reason he hasn't gone to the demons is because he can't handle the military ones. That could change."

"Are you saying this guy could take over?" Jay asked.

"That is exactly what I'm saying." Ash paused. "He'll get all kinds of creatures and not only will he attack muggles and other humans, he'll go after us because we haven't joined him."

Switch gripped Ash's shoulder. "You've given us a lot to think about. You've been oddly mature tonight." Switch ignored Jacks chuckle and Ash's pout. "I'll need to speak with a few…others. Anything else you wanted to say?"

Ash nodded. "Now…I'm not saying we train him, what I'm saying is help him get the right type of equipment."

Jack grinned, large teeth sparkling in the light. "This idea actually sounds like fun. I'm always up for a new friend."

Ash beamed and turned to the others. "How about it?"

Gadget sighed. "I want to talk with him before I make my decision."

Ash nodded. Gadget was always thinking, even if he wasn't the most mature, seeing as how he was the oldest. Gadget was 17 while Hop was 16 and the rest had just turned 15.

Jay looked interested but agreed with Gadget. "I'll see if I like him or not."

Hop smiled at Ash. "You know how bad I am at fighting but I'll see if I can give him some information on healing. This seems important to you so I'll give it a chance."

Everyone turned to Switch. She just scowled. "Why do you want to train this particular guy, anyway?"

Ash suddenly looked uncomfortable and shrugged. "He seems like a fighter and with some decent training, on his own time of course, he could get pretty strong."

Switch stared long and hard at her. "What's his name?"

Ash suddenly laughed nervously. "You wanna know?"

"Yes, Ash," Switch walked closer to Ash. "I wanna know."

The letter that Ash was holding was suddenly yanked out of her grip. "Let's read what the letter has to say!" Jay laughed. He danced out of Ash's reach and Jack held her still, laughing at her protests.

"Guys! That's my letter!"

"And we just want to see what it has to say," Jay said innocently. He coughed dramatically.

_Ash, first off I just wanted to make sure you're ok. I hope you aren't hurt. I told Hedwig to wait for a reply._

Everyone turned to look at the impatient looking owl. "Oh, hey!" Ash cried cheerfully. "You're that one owls mum!"

Everyone gave her an incredulous look.

"What? The guy wasn't just trying to save himself but his baby owl." The others just shrugged but still noticed how right away the guy had asked if Ash was alright.

_I'm sorry about all that happened in the sewers. I didn't want you to be dragged into that kind of mess and I don't want you hurt._

They all glanced at each other guiltily. Just hearing he was human didn't exactly come off as a good start. Now they were having second thoughts.

_If that offer to see you at your store is still open, do you think we could arrange a day? It would be nice to see both you and Kaz again, especially since we didn't exactly have a chance to say goodbye. If not, then…_

Everyone looked at the piece of parchment. It looked like he had no idea what to say for a few minutes. Ash giggled. "All males are the same, no matter what species." She ignored looks.

_It would still be nice to hear you're ok. I hope everything is fine with you and your friends. If they're as protective as you say, then I suggest sneaking home._

"I like this guy already," Jack said.

_Hope to hear from you,_

Everybody except Kaz and Ash stared wide eyed as they saw the name written on the letter.

_Harry Potter_

Jay started laughing. "You gotta be kidding me. He really an ok guy?"

Ash nodded. "He's really kind. How many times do I have to convince you guys?"

They all laughed and started grumbling about her sending a reply back. Ash giggled as Hop, Jay and Gadget headed back into the garage and up to the second story.

Ash glanced at Jack and Switch. It was Switch's reaction she was waiting for. Although one the youngest, she was the most mature out of all of them combined. Switch let out a breath as she saw her friend stare at her.

"Well, that was something I didn't expect."

"Can you at least give him a chance?" Ash begged.

Switch narrowed her eyes. "He's a human…"

At that moment, Kaz had had enough. "So what's the big deal? All of you keep gong on about how prejudice humans are but you know what? You are too! Just give him a chance! He saved me against string!"

Jack peered down at the little fairy which freaked her out big time. If it wasn't for the fact that Jack was a giant compared to her it was the large, pearly white teeth that were bigger than her.

"He saved you against string?" Jack asked.

"Er, well, yes," Kaz said lamely.

Jack looked at Ash. Ash looked at Jack. They both erupt in gales of laughter before Switch whacked them both upside the head.

"Shut it." Switch stared at Kaz who looked back bravely. "Alright, I'll give him a chance." Both Ash and Jack shot each other a look. Switch had _never _done anything like that. "But he has to spend most of his time with us in whatever form I tell him to be in."

Ash looked thoughtful for a sec, deciding on how she would write this letter. She beamed nonetheless at Switch. "You won't regret it, Switch."

"I doubt that," Switch muttered.

"Oh? I'll give you two reasons why you won't."

"Really? Go right ahead."

Ash grinned slyly. "Well, for one, he's an armored dragon." Switch let nothing show but on the inside she was a little more than shocked. "And for number two, he has awakened his inner animal."

This time Switch didn't hide her surprise. "Well, has he even killed yet?"

Ash scowled. "Now I know that you're only trying to back out now. Yes, he's killed. He kind of freaked out when I told him Kaz told me."

"It was his first kill in those sewers?" Jack asked.

Ash rolled her eyes. "Honestly, it's not like we've killed that many. Only in one major battle and a few in the gang bangs back then."

Switch's scowl started to disappear just a little. "Fine, but you better tell him what I expect him to do."

This time Ash glared. "He's not a servant, Switch."

"I know that, Ash." Switch met Ash's glare. "But some of the things I know you want me to tell him about involve not only his inner animal, but his dragon form." She looked thoughtful. "A human able to transform into a demon…"

"And a dragon no less," Jack said happily.

Switch sighed. If it was anyone else, Switch would have said no, but Ash and Jack were her best friends, there are just some things you can't say no to.

"Alright, write him back." Ash grinned happily. "I suggest you hurry, that owl looks ready to kill." They all turned back to Hedwig who did indeed look murderous.

"Got it!" Ash quickly wrote a reply and gave it back to Hedwig. "You know, Switch, we've never been on for rules…"

"I know what you're going to say," Switch interrupted. She gazed at her best friend with such seriousness that Ash couldn't even make a puppy dog look. "We'll introduce him to the demon part of town next time he visits and only, ONLY if I say he can handle himself."

Ash laughed and Jack pounded their backs. "This will be one hell of year."

When Jack finished laughing, he muttered a goodbye and headed up to the second story, eager to get some shut eye and tell the others.

When the two girls were alone, Switch asked, "Is there one other reason?"

"Yea," Ash said slowly. She looked into Switch's eyes. "He has the same loneliness in his eyes that you do."

Switch glared. "We shall see."

Ash nodded. "It's also the right thing. We both know war is coming. We'll need all the help we can get."

Switch only nodded before walking away, leaving with a thoughtful look.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Harry smiled grimly as he surveyed the boys' dormitory. It looked the same as last year, despite the lack of boys. Harry heard the door open slowly, Ron's tall form entering the room.

"Great to back, right Harry?" Ron asked tiredly. His eyes drooped slightly, showing how tired he was. He would probably be asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Harry smiled somewhat forcefully. "It is, Ron. It's good to be back home." Ron yawned widely as he made his way to his own four poster bed.

"Well, night' then."

"Goodnight, Ron." Harry watched Rom somewhat jealously as he closed his eyes and was out less than a minute later. "Lucky bloke," Harry muttered. Instead of hopping in his own bed, Harry crawled onto the window sill. He was a little cramped, having grown quite a bit among the years (though not enough in Harry's opinion.)

Harry's eyes moved along the grassy fields of Hogwarts. His eyes rested on the quidditch field before moving to the Forbidden Forest. Harry sighed tiredly. The small space that used to comfort him throughout the years now seemed too small, almost suffocating.

Where else was there to go when your own home is no longer safe or comfortable? Harry closed his eyes sadly and gripped his shoulder almost as if he were in pain. His eyes snapped open angrily and a soft growl escaped his throat.

"Leave me alone, Voldemort."

- - - - - - - - - - -

Ok, this chapter was crap. I was totally rushing but I still managed 28 pages. Wow. Now before I get some angry reviews about all these new characters, there is a reason for that. A reason I shall not reveal yet. Their nicknames are important too. Their real names have to do with their history, something that won't happen for a while.

They are reluctant to give Harry a chance but have decided to try, giving their friend the benefit of the doubt. Harry will make some new friends and maybe, all seven of them will help get rid of some of the prejudice in the world.

Not much with Nagini in this chapter. Let me remind you I was rushing. I was eager to get the escape over and done with so…sorry.

NEW SUMMARY: _Harry has managed to escape Voldemort once more but has escaped with a new burden. Harry knows that the human world is losing hope. Now he has to make amends with new and old creatures. Will some show friendship or anger? Harry fights for his new friends and to stop Voldemort once and for all. The only problem, Voldemort can control him and Harry is having love issues for a girlfriend and a mother. Will he get both or neither? Watch as he fights to build a wonderful new friendship with magical creatures, knowing that humans may no longer be able to fight. _

Yea, I know, crappy new summary. Hope you like it. Flames and reviews welcome.


	6. gliding and a new friend

I've got the next chapter up! YAY! Now I understand there are a lot of questions left unanswered, don't worry. This is only the beginning people, more will come. I don't want this story to be rushed. I am writing this at a pace I feel comfortable with for I am doing this because I enjoy writing. However, your questions are appreciated. I get more ideas with them, but I still wanted to remind you this is only the beginning.

NEW SUMMARY: _Harry has managed to escape Voldemort once more but has escaped with a new burden. Harry knows that the human world is losing hope. Now he has to make amends with new and old magical beings. Will some show friendship or anger? Harry fights for his new friends and to stop Voldemort once and for all. The only problem, Voldemort can control him and Harry is having love issues for a girlfriend and a mother. Will he get both or neither? Watch as he fights to build a wonderful new friendship with magical beings, knowing that humans may no longer be able to fight._

- - - - - - - - - - - -

You're mine, Harry.

Harry opened his eyes blearily and jumped up when he saw he was inside a giant glass box. Harry's breathing became strained as he saw Voldemort blocking his only exit. It seemed the door was partially shut.

"Hello, Harry."

Harry took a few steps back. "Voldemort," Harry whispered.

"Me." Voldemort smiled, his snake like appearance continuing to intimidate Harry even more. He gestured to the large glass box (15 x 15 ft) surrounding them and said, "What an interesting trap your mind has made for yourself."

"My mind?" Harry questioned, backing up even further.

Voldemort stepped closer. "Yes, Harry. We are indeed in your mind. Small and pitiful it is."

Harry glared but Voldemort just sneered right back. "How did you get in? And why would my mind make a trap for myself?"

"All excellent questions, little Harry," Voldemort said, moving closer with each word.

"I'm not little!" Harry snapped.

Voldemort was now directly in front of him. He patted Harry on the head almost lovingly. He chuckled at Harry's look of horror. "No, of course not, Harry," he said mockingly.

Harry growled and brushed the hand off his head and took a step back, only to hit the wall behind him. He swore loudly.

"Yes, you do seem to get yourself caught in the corner." Voldemort sounded amused. He took Harry's chin in his hand and stroked his cheek with his thumb. Harry didn't dare move as his scar started prickling.

"Get out of my mind," Harry snarled.

Voldemort didn't respond right away. He just grabbed Harry by the throat and pushed him so that he was in front of him. Grabbing the back of Harry's neck, Voldemort pushed Harry closer to the door that led to his freedom. Harry struggled but Voldemort just said, "Stop," and he stopped.

"The manacles," Harry whispered.

Voldemort stopped about seven feet from the door. "Yes, Harry, the manacles do provide me with some control."

"Dumbledore said they controlled my nerves," Harry said.

Voldemort just chuckled, his hand still firmly around Harry's neck. "Not exactly, little serpent. Every magical being has, shall we say, sacks of magic. They are like veins running through our bodies. First we have our core, which is the source of our magic. That soon spreads the magic to the 'sacks' surrounded in our body."

Voldemort started to push Harry down until he was in a sitting position. Harry of course fought back but Voldemort only needed to kneel and move his hand directly over Harry's scar. He stopped moving.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Harry asked, still looking at the hand.

Voldemort, who still had his hand wrapped around Harry's neck, brought him closer. Harry's breath got caught in his throat. Was Voldemort _hugging _him?! Voldemort had Harry's small form wrapped around tightly against his chest, the cloak making sufficient binds. Harry shivered.

"Because you need to understand," Voldemort told him. So Voldemort was educating him? Would wonders never cease? "These manacles allow me to seep my own magic into them, disrupting the flow of several of the sacks, thus damaging your nerves."

"So Dumbledore was right," Harry asked stiffly.

"Yes and no. The magic allows me to bend the sacks to my will, thus making you obey me."

"But I broke one of your commands already," Harry said, fighting to get out of Voldemort's grip. He successfully got out but he was still pressed up against the wall.

"Yes," Voldemort said softly, staring at Harry as if he was a dog that had just performed a trick. "When I asked you to come to me, your own magic fought against my own, driving me off. Too big of a command, with almost no manacles, will not work."

Harry, interested in the information he was getting was still suspicious. "I still don't understand why you're telling me all this."

Voldemort laughed. Harry glared. How dare he think he was funny?! "Oh, you never cease to amuse me, little serpent."

"I'm not your 'little' anything!" Harry snarled.

Voldemort just stared at him with amusement. "You are mine in every way possible, Harry. You just don't realize it. Now," Voldemort said strictly, startling Harry, "what do you do with information?"

"What?" Harry gawked, completely confused.

Voldemort whipped out his wand. _"Crucio." _Harry fell to the ground, twitching and jerking but refusing to cry out. When the curse was finished, he was panting harshly. "Now," Voldemort continued coldly, "what do you do with information?"

Harry shivered. "You…you learn from it?"

"Was that a question or an answer?" Voldemort snapped.

"An answer," Harry snapped back, standing back up and putting some distance between himself and Voldemort.

"Good, Harry," Voldemort said softly, fingering his was wand. Harry shook with anger. "And what do you do with the information you have learned?"

Harry said nothing.

"_Sectumsempra," _Voldemort hissed angrily, waving his wand in a slashing motion. Harry cried out in pain as a large gash appeared on his arm, making it bleed heavily. He grabbed his arm, trying to stop the blood flow.

"You… practice it?" Voldemort raised his wand again and Harry hurriedly said, "Depending on what the information is, you… figure out how it can gain in your favor."

Voldemort nodded approvingly. "It seems Serverus was wrong. You have more brains than he said." Harry gritted his teeth. "Still, you are too slow."

"And why is that any of your concern?" Harry asked warily.

"Because it _is_ my concern, Harry," Voldemort said. "You belong to me."

"I belong to no one!" Harry shouted, throwing a fist at Voldemort. Voldemort just side stepped the weak attack and back handed him. Harry, knocked against the wall, lifted a hand to his reddening cheek.

Voldemort pointed his wand at Harry. "Remember your manners, pet." Harry growled loudly, his teeth growing sharp. Voldemort smiled triumphantly. "It seems I made the right choice. Remember all your lessons."

Harry glared weakly. "Is this…a test?"

Voldemort lifted his hand to Harry's red cheek. Harry flinched back. "Yes." Red eyes locked with green. "To decide."

Harry blinked. "Decide what?"

Voldemort smiled cruelly, his eyes gleaming with delight. "You shall see, my little serpent. Just be patient."

Harry shook his head. "I will never willingly go to you."

Voldemort only chuckled. "It won't matter. Either way I will get what I want."

"What happened to killing me?" Harry asked almost with a whine. "Or better yet, why don't you just leave me alone?"

"You still don't realize your own power?"

"My power? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything, Harry." Harry scowled. Voldemort was switching names like crazy and he didn't know what to think. Voldemort turned Harry around harshly. For the first time, Harry could make out another glass box. It was far, but Harry could see Tagger trapped in it. Beside him were two other boxes. What was in them, Harry couldn't see.

"What did you do to Tagger?" Harry snarled.

"Nothing, idiot child," Voldemort said coldly. "You are much harder to teach than I realized. Perhaps Serverus was right…"

Harry scowled. "All you're telling me is to learn from information. I get that, but I am not a test subject." Harry turned to face Voldemort, his face quite calm. "I won't do what you expect me to."

Voldemort just stepped back. "You already are."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "I will defeat you, Voldemort. You and your Death Eater scum."

Voldemort smiled victoriously. "Then train, my little serpent. I will enjoy our next meeting in the real world." Voldemort started to fade away, causing Harry to awake with a start.

Harry blinked at the ceiling, consciousness hitting him like a hammer to the head. He glanced at his arm and swore softly. It was bleeding from a gash. He got up quietly and made his way to the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror.

"What did you do to me, Voldemort?" Harry whispered.

"He trapped us in your mind," Tagger said tiredly. He floated by the sink. "I couldn't help you at all." Tagger looked away with shame. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Harry said. He washed off the blood and made his way to the common room, only checking to see the time. It was 5:00 in the morning. No wonder Ron was still asleep.

Harry sat on the armchair in front of the fire. Tagger settled down on his lap, melting through his pajamas but hitting his skin. Harry chuckled at the sight.

"Sorry, Harry," Tagger said again.

Harry ran a finger down his head. "No need to apologize."

"I should have been able to help you," Tagger growled.

Harry sighed. "Forget about it. We'll just have to find a way to keep Voldemort out of my head."

Tagger nodded silently.

Harry suddenly chuckled. "You know, Tagger, you should stop apologizing. Get independent or something."

Tagger laughed as his own words were thrown back in his face. He did a few flips in the air. "You're right, Harry. You know, we're pretty bad when it comes down to apologizing." Harry chuckled in agreement but looked up when four chuckles were added to his own.

"Why hello there old chum, Fred said happily.

"Not a good night?" George asked, glancing at his hurt arm.

Harry jut shrugged. "It was…interesting." He looked at the two floating figures above the twins. His eyes widened. "You're…" Two hands covered his mouth quickly and the twins dragged Harry up to their dormitory where no one would overhear them.

With the door closed, Fred and George released Harry.

"Blimey!" Harry exclaimed. "You're both raccoons!"

"Noticed, did he?" the raccoon over George said.

"Good eye that one," the other said and they all laughed.

George got his laughter under control. "I don't know why you're excited. You're a bloody dragon!"

Tagger puffed up his chest. "Jealous? Stunned by the beauty that is me?" The twins laughed.

"I like him already," Fred said.

Harry grinned and gestured to the raccoons. "So what are your names?"

George's raccoon came up to him "The name's Mao."

Fred's was next. "And I'm Chame (ka-meh.)"

"Nice to meet you," Harry said. His expression turned curious. "I thought no two wizards could have the same animagus."

"Well, that is right, Harry," George informed him with a grin.

"But our little buddies are completely different!" Fred put in.

Harry stared long and hard but couldn't see what was different Even Tagger couldn't tell. Harry shrugged. "What's different about them?"

Moa came up to Harry, grinning. He put his left back leg in Harry's face. Harry noticed a patch of black fur that resembled a triangle.

"Oh," Harry laughed. "One has a different mark."

"Wrong again, Harry" Chame said. He showed Harry is right back leg and Harry saw the same mark.

"Ah," Harry grinned at the twins. "Of course, your inner animal has to be almost exactly the same."

Fred and George beamed. "Yep," Fred said. "Took us forever to even make the potion."

"How long did it take?" Harry asked.

The two shrugged. "Since our fourth year."

Harry lifted an eyebrow. "That long? You two are obviously talented, why didn't you get more O.W.Ls?"

They just shrugged. "We don't want anything big, Harry," George said thoughtfully. "We just want to open a joke shop and be happy."

"If you can hide me from Voldemort in your joke shop, I'll be glad to be a full time partner," Harry joked.

"Actually," Harry," George said dramatically.

"You are a life long partner!" Fred finished.

"I am?"

"Of course you are!" George said happily. "You are our wonderful and only benefactor."

Harry grinned and suddenly motioned at Tagger. He had been talking to the raccoons. "This, by the way, is Tagger."

Tagger grinned. "What's up?"

The twins glanced at each other. "The sky of course!" they answered at the same time.

Harry chuckled. "How did you come up with your animals names?"

Fred and George looked confused. "Uh, Harry, the coons already had names."

Harry frowned. "Tagger didn't."

"Yea, how come they did?" Tagger asked.

"Well, the council comes up—" Fred started.

"What council?" Both Tagger and Harry interrupted.

"What do you mean 'what council?'" Fred asked.

"That's what we said," Tagger said angrily. "We don't know."

"But the—" this time the coons grabbed the twins by the lips and dragged them over to the corner.

Tagger and Harry glanced at each other as the four conversed quietly in whispers. They came back after a few moments and the twins looked pale. "Sorry, Harry, but we can't say anything," Fred said nervously.

"What? Why not?"

George shrugged. "Just forget about it, mate."

"What?" Tagger shouted. "No way are we going to forget!"

Chame and Mao just stared sympathetically. "Don't worry about. You'll find out in time."

The two just scowled angrily and Fred and George grinned at their similar expressions of absolute anger.

"So how about a transformation?" George asked excitedly.

Harry grinned wildly. "Alright, you two first."

They nodded and in a split second two raccoons stood at about a foot high. Harry kneeled. "Cool." They both grinned identically.

They changed back. "Your turn!" Fred exclaimed.

Harry nodded. "First, could you transfigure something into a mirror? I never got a chance to really look at myself."

Fred nodded and quickly conjured a five foot mirror. Harry nodded in thanks and closed his eyes in concentration. He imagined his body changing, becoming feral. Harry felt his skin prickle and opened his eyes when he heard a ripping noise.

He blinked at his reflection before grinning toothily. The twins openly gapped. His green eyes practically glowed from the dark reptilian face. Harry glanced at his butt and sighed when he saw the hole his tail made. The same could be said from several spikes and his wings.

Harry lifted them proudly. Thick bone and what looked like a large thumb with a sharp black spike held thick but almost weightless leather. "Beautiful," Harry breathed.

The bones were black while the leather was a bright, poisonous green. Harry ran his hands over his horns and snout. He took off his glasses and was happy to see he didn't need them anymore.

Fred and George ran their hands over Harry's wings. "Charlie would be so jealous," Fred muttered.

"Or he'd want to study Harry," George said.

Harry snorted.

"Try flying, Harry!" George cried.

Harry smiled widely. He glanced at Tagger who came to a landing at the bottom. "Just follow my wing movement."

"Got it." Harry watched with trepidation as the small dragon made rotating movements with his wings. They weren't just up and down, but more like in a circle. Harry knelt so that he was on all fours. He copied the movement. It was slow at first, but his wing beats became more frantic when he didn't he lift off the ground.

Harry could tell Tagger was becoming more and more frustrated. He couldn't lift himself up either. After five minutes of pointless wing beating, Harry stopped and panted. "What's wrong?" he asked the small dragon.

Tagger shot him a bewildered look. "I have no idea. I know the right movement, the way to take off, everything, I just can't seem to do it." He sounded angry and Harry couldn't blame him. He was a bit miffed as well.

George just clapped him on the shoulder but winced when he hit a spike. "Sorry," Harry muttered.

"Forget it," George told him. "Maybe it's just something you have to practice. Maybe you have to build wing muscle or something."

Harry only shrugged and thought about changing back. When he felt the prickly feeling reside, he opened his eyes and saw Fred and George covering their mouth, hiding their chuckles. The coons were the same.

"Uh, Harry, you have holes is your P.J's," Tagger said.

Harry looked at himself and groaned. "Not again! It's bad enough Voldemort had to fix it for me last time," he muttered the last part.

"What was that, Harry," Fred asked. "Having problems with your transformation?"

"Would ickle-harrikins like us to fix his pajamas?" George asked, grinning.

Harry scowled as the two cast a reparo charm over him. With his clothes fixed, Harry put his glasses back on. He suddenly frowned in thought. "Do you think I can only transform my eyes? You know, just so I don't have to wear my glasses."

The two shrugged but Tagger told him to concentrate specifically on his eyes. "Just imagine transforming but only your eyesight. You want the eyes of a dragon."

Harry nodded and concentrated for a few minutes. _"Just the eyes," _Harry thought forcefully. He felt his eyes prickle for a moment and opened them slowly. For a second, he just stood still as he realized everything was so…_bright. _Even in the dark, Harry could see every crack, shadow, color, everything.

"It worked!" Harry said cheerfully.

"Oh yea, it worked all right," George said.

"But you might want to take a look at your eyes," Fred told him.

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Harry shrugged and looked in the mirror and frowned. "I guess that'll be a problem." The twins chuckled. His pupils were slit-like. He sighed and concentrated once again, his eyes returned to normal. "Guess that won't work," he said as he put his glasses back.

"Well, next time, mate."

Harry nodded and yawned widely. The twins yawned after him and George pushed him out of the room. "Well, see you in five hours. We need some more beauty sleep."

Harry snorted as he left the room. It was about 7:00 but he doubted the others would wake up. He contemplated going back to sleep but immediately dismissed that notion. He wasn't up for another chat with Voldemort. Sighing, he glanced at Tagger.

"I hope we can get flying down," he told the dragon.

Tagger grumbled a bit. "I can't believe I can't fly! I mean, I can understand you, but what about me? The stupid potion only allows me to float…" He continued to grumble a bit more but Harry tuned him out, got dressed quickly and exited Gryffindor tower.

"Hello dearie!" The Fat Lady called.

Harry grinned up at her portrait. "Hello, you're not gonna spring a password on me later, will you?"

The portrait woman only laughed. "No passwords for the summer, sweety. Come back soon." Harry smiled in gratitude and waved before heading down to the Great Hall, missing her say, "He's always so polite, that one."

Harry walked into the Great Hall, not expecting anyone else to be in there and jumped greatly when an excited voice said, "Ah! Mr. Potter, it's so nice to see you up and about."

When Harry recovered from his shock, he slowly turned to the tiny Professor Flitwick.

He chuckled. "Sorry to startle you, Mr. Potter, I thought you saw me already."

Harry coughed silently in embarrassment. "No problem, Professor. It was my fault for being aware of my surroundings."

Flitwick waved it away. "After what you experienced Mr. Potter, I would be jumpy as well."

Harry mentally rolled his eyes. The charms professor was always jumpy. He noticed the Sorting Hat in his teacher's hand. "Sir, what are you doing with the Sorting Hat?"

"Just setting him out before the start of the year. He seems to enjoy thinking up new songs in front of the house tables." With that, the tiny professor conjured a stool and set the hat upon it. "Would you like to join me breakfast, Mr. Potter?" he asked.

Harry blinked slowly and blushed as his stomach growled loudly. He grinned ruefully. "I guess I'm a bit hungry."

Flitwick smiled and gestured for Harry to follow. Harry complied and sat next to his teacher at the head of table. Flitwick coughed slightly and said, "I'll have my usual, please." Almost immediately, a large amount of food popped up in front of the excited professor. "Elf magic is simply amazing. Wouldn't you agree, Mr. Potter?"

Harry only nodded dumbly and looked at his golden goblet. "Order anything you like, Mr. Potter," Flitwick told him. Just say what you want and it'll appear."

Harry smiled. "Just like the ball, huh?" He quieted. He wasn't exactly in the mood for talk but didn't want to appear rude. "I'll…actually, I'm not sure what I'm hungry for," he admitted. "I'm hungry, but I don't feel like eating."

Flitwick patted his hand. "You know, Mr.… I mean, Harry." Harry stared. "I know that the Headmaster has requested that we don't badger you for information, but if you would like to talk about it, I'm all ears." Professor Flitwick smiled happily at his student. "It doesn't have to be what happened down in those sewers either. It can be anything you want."

Harry gapped. Someone other than his friends or Madame Pomfrey wanted to know how he was _feeling? _"Err, thanks, Professor, but I don't really want to talk about what happened and I can't really think of another topic." He smiled apologetically.

The professor just beamed and started to eat but not before saying, "Make sure you eat something as well."

Harry rolled his eyes but instead of ordering his food, he just glanced down at his left wrist. He stared at the Manacle and he narrowed his eyes in anger. He didn't notice the contents on the table begin to rattle, his magic and aura making the temperature cold.

Why did this sort of thing always happen to him? Why did Voldemort have to choose him of all people? And why did he decide to start 'educating' him? What was his game? So many questions echoed through Harry's head that he didn't notice a comforting hand rest on his shoulder or someone rubbing his hand soothingly. It wasn't until he heard his name did he look up.

He saw both Professor Flitwick and McGonagall looking at him worriedly. Professor McGonagall pursed her lips. "Mr. Potter, it seems that Professor Flitwick asked if you would like to talk about some problems you are having. You said no and he respected your wish, but now I am demanding that you at least tell us a little bit what's bothering you."

Harry grimaced. "It's ok, Professor, honestly." He tried to stand up but McGonagall just pushed him back down.

"Sit," she told him strictly. He gulped and sat perfectly still. "Mr. Potter, you may or not be aware of how much some of us know. You already met with several Order members last night and know of their importance."

Harry nodded, remembering meeting the real Alastor Moody and a woman named Tonks. She was pretty funny.

"The Headmaster has informed us of your…position with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"What did he say?!" Harry blurted out, eyes wide and wondering what Dumbledore told the others.

McGonagall took his left hand gently. She closed her eyes for a moment. "He told us that the You-Know-Who is attempting to control you with these horrible devices and perhaps even turn you into his heir."

Harry stared at his professor dumbfounded before erupting into laughter. After few minutes, he was able to clear the few tears that had fallen from laughing so hard. "I doubt Voldemort is willing to make me his heir. Control me most definitely but there's no way he would make me his heir. Besides, isn't he really old?"

McGonagall coughed on her drink as she took a sip. Flitwick leaned over to Harry and whispered, "You-Know-Who went to school at the same time as Minerva. I believe they were the same year."

Harry choked on a laugh. "He's _that _old?!"

"Mr. Potter!"

Harry grinned innocently. "Sorry, Professor, slip of the tongue."

She narrowed her eyes sternly. "I will pretend that I did not hear that so that we may continue our conversation."

Harry squirmed uncomfortably. "Well…" Harry sighed and finally brought his wrist up to his face. He contemplated on what and what not to tell them. They were being kind to him and were willing to listen but there were still some things he was not willing to tell them.

Tagger and his deal with the twins were out of the question and he really did not want to tell the professors about his new resolve to train like never before. They had their own lives and did not need to be bothered by him.

"I feel trapped," he told them finally. "Not just by Voldemort (he ignored the flinches) but by Professor Dumbledore. I know he means well, but I just can't stand being with my muggle relatives all summer long."

"I always told Albus I didn't agree with those muggles," McGonagall muttered and Harry smiled.

"I just…I dunno. I want to get out, do something normal…" Harry trailed off and stared at the enchanted ceiling. For a moment, he felt a type of warmth spread over him, almost like a hug, but it disappeared quickly.

"Well, I heard Albus is allowing you and your friends to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow," Flitwick said.

"Is he?" Harry smiled brightly and couldn't wait to get a letter to Ash. Just as soon as Hedwig got back… "…Probably with guards though."

Professor McGonagall shrugged. "That, unfortunately, is something you are going to have to deal with, especially with the threat of You-know-who."

Harry rolled his eyes. "You can just say Voldemort; I'm not scared of his _name._"

The two professors chuckled. "Not all of us are like you or the Headmaster, Harry."

Harry shrugged and blushed as his stomach growled loudly.

"I suggest you eat," McGonagall told him.

Harry nodded and contemplated on what he wanted. "I suggest you just ask the elves what would be a good breakfast for you," Flitwick offered.

"Um, ok." Harry stared at his plate bemusedly. "Erm, can I have whatever you think I would like?" Almost immediately, several plates filled up with meat and fruit. Harry looked at the food. The fruit looked exotic. There was even a full pineapple and several kiwis. The meat looked…raw. For some reason, his stomach growled louder than ever and he started drooling at the sight.

"Mr. Potter, that meat doesn't look--" Flitwick started.

Harry took a large bite and immediately dug in at an alarming pace.

"--cooked," he finished.

Harry was oblivious to his professor's look of amusement and disgust as he continued to eat the meat. It was cooked just enough to get rid of bacteria and other germs but that was it.

"_This is the best thing I've ever eaten," _Harry thought happily.

"Meat is a dragons best friend, Harry," Tagger told him. "But fruit is important because it gives us the right vitamins that vegetables would normally give humans. The reason for that is because dragons aren't plant eaters. I suggest you try the bananas and kiwi.

Harry slowed down as started to notice the looks sent his way. "Sorry," he grinned sheepishly. "I guess I'm a bit hungry." He then looked at the fruit. "I've never had these before," he said thoughtfully, holding a red fruit.

"That's a strawberry, Mr. Potter," McGonagall told him, wondering how a boy never had a strawberry.

"Ah." He popped it in his mouth and widened his eyes at the sweet taste. Aunt Petunia had brought some home once but he wasn't allowed to have any. No wonder she didn't share, she wanted them all to herself. "These are good."

McGonagall sat down and ordered her own food. "It's good to see you eating something. Poppy wouldn't stop going on about you being a twig." Harry blushed.

"Not a twig," he mumbled.

They continued to eat in silence for a few moments before Harry once again glanced at the manacle on his wrist. _"Stay calm," _he told himself. _"Can't get over emotional about this. Finish eating then start planning." _He sighed quietly. _"I wish I could hide…" _his eyes slowly looked over to professor Flitwick, _"…this."_

"Professor!" he shouted happily, causing the tiny professor to squeak in fright. "You're a charms professor!"

"Really, Potter?" McGonagall covered a chuckle. "Did it really take you four years to realize that?"

Harry blinked and then realized how dumb that must have sounded. 'No, um, I meant, can you teach me a glamour charm?"

"Oh?" Flitwick inquired.

Harry nodded and held his wrist over to him. "I want to hide this before school starts. The same with the one on my foot, even though I have pants to cover it."

Flitwick beamed. "Splendid idea, Mr. Potter! Now, the incantation is _occultus," _he said with flick of his wand. The manacle blurred for a moment before a blue sweatband appeared. It was definitely better than the noticeable manacle. It was just an illusion, seeing as Harry could still feel the full weight and length of the manacle.

"To cancel the charm, just say _absentis." _Another flick of the wand had the mancle reappearing. "Go ahead and give it a try. The wand movement is only a half a flick."

Harry nodded and concentrated. "_Occultus," _he said, flicking his wand at the manacle. Nothing happened. He frowned. _"Maybe if I add more magic. I didn't add that much the first time," _he thought. _"Occultus,"_ he said again. _Still_ nothing.

"Mr. Potter, you have the right movement and you're pronouncing it right, technically you should have gotten it," Flitwick said.

"I don't think I'm adding enough magic," Harry said thoughtfully. "I've already tried adding more but I don't think I've done enough."

"Potter, just what do you mean by 'adding more magic?'"McGonagall asked, frowning a bit.

Harry shrugged. "Every time I learn a new spell, I add magic to it. Isn't that what you're supposed to do?"

"No, Potter, you are not," McGonagall said blandly. She folded her hands and leaned back in thought. "When you perform a spell, all you need is the right incantation and movement."

"But what about the magic?" Harry asked.

"Your wand is like a guide, Potter. It is what allows your magic to seep out of your body and create the spell. Didn't you ever wonder that draining feeling is when you perform a spell?"

Harry was confused. "Um, no. Sorry, but I don't know what you mean."

McGonagall took a deep breath. "The after affects, Potter. If what you say is true about adding more magic than necessary, then you should be feeling more drained than normal."

Harry shook his head. Why would he feel drained? "I don't understand, Professor."

This time McGonagall sighed. "What do you mean you don't feel them? And why would you even add more magic to your spell."

Harry felt like ripping out his hair. She wasn't answering his question! "I just don't feel drained. If I perform the spells over and over I eventually feel tired. I add magic because I experiment on how much is needed."

Flitwick, who had been listening interestedly, decided to add his own two knuts. "Potter, I suggest you try the spell once more without adding anymore magic."

"But how will I know how much to use?!"

"Just do it, Potter, and see the results."

Harry grumbled, not satisfied. This time he didn't concentrate on gathering his magic. Flicking his wand, he muttered, "_Occultus." _He watched amazed as the manacle blurred once more and this time turned into a black sweatband.

Flitwick beamed. "There now, nothing to it."

Harry smiled in gratitude. "Thanks, professor." With that, they all started to eat in silence. Harry sighed peacefully as he continued to eat the meat. This had to be the best breakfast ever.

"Potter!" A voice snapped, making them all jump. And then it was ruined. They turned to see professor Snape coming up to them, a scowl on his face. "What exactly are you doing at the Head of Table?"

"Um, eating?"

"Don't play smart with me, Potter," Snape glared. "You know students aren't allowed at the teachers table." He turned to glare at the other two, as if blaming them.

Harry frowned. How on earth was he supposed to deal with the slimy git this year?

"Always breaking the rules, aren't you, Potter?" Snape continued. "Just like your father. Probably doing it to spite me…"

"What did you say?" Harry blurted out, breaking Snape out of his ranting.

Snape glared and Flitwick and McGonagall just shook their heads, too used to their colleague's behavior. "I said, Potter," Snape said slowly. "That your father is probably laughing his head off in his grave just to spite me at your--"

"That's it!" Harry shouted, interrupting Snape once more. He now knew how to ignore Snape. What was the best way to pass his class? Ignore him and get into his N.E.W.Ts class with hard work just to spite him! "Professor! You're a genius!"

With that, Harry grabbed his slimy potions professor in a hug around the middle and took off running. He came back ten seconds later to grab the plate of meat and took off once more, heading to the Hospital Wing. Flitwick and McGonagall laughed at their fellow teacher as his face looked like he was going through the worst kind of torture possible.

"Madame Pomfrey!" Harry called out. He entered the Hospital Wing and put down his empty plate and licked his lips. "Madame Pomfrey!" he called again.

"Potter!" What is with all the racket?" Pomfrey entered the room and glared at him.

"Do you have any healing books or books about the human body?" Harry asked innocently.

She stared at him suspiciously. "And why do you need them?"

"I need to learn some healing charms… I promise I'll go to you when it's serious but what if you're not there? I may need help and then I'll remember that my very nice but horribly strict school nurse gave me a book on healing charms."

Pomfrey's face held amusement. "While your idea is…reasonable, I can only give you a book on the theory. If you truly want to learn, read the book first and come back to me. I will train you if you truly want to learn."

Harry's face brightened. "Will you really?"

Pomfrey nodded. "But that does not mean you will not come to me when hurt or sick."

Harry nodded in agreement. This was better than he had hoped. She went into her office and came back a few minutes later carrying two books. "Here you are, Potter, one on the theory of healing charms and the other on the human body. Why you want that one is beyond me but you were always a strange one."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Harry muttered. He took the books and waved goodbye, making his way down to the field. The first book, while short and to the point, was called, "The Theory of Healing Charms." The second one was, "The Human Body and its Chakra."

It was a nice day and Harry had been out for at least an hour. He had read through half the book already and barely made out what the other half meant. He held to his promise and decided to go back to Madame Pomfrey later. For the moment, he just stretched and lay down, looking at the sky lazily. He idly wondered if Hermione or Ron had woken up yet and if they were looking for him.

It had to at least be 9:00 and not even Ron slept anymore than that. He closed his eyes peacefully and went over several of the theories in his head. It was actually amazing that so many cells could be recreated without actually harming the body.

It wasn't even five minutes later did a large shadow block Harry from the sun. He opened a lazy eye and saw Buckbeak. "Hey, Buckbeak, what are you doing here?" Harry scratched the hippogriff behind the ear.

Buckbeak seemed to give him an amused look. "When did you learn to speak, young fawn?"

Harry blinked slowly, wondering if he had just imagined Buckbeak talking.

"Have you gone death, fawn?" Buckbeak demanded.

Nope, he hadn't.

"Buckbeak, since when could you talk?" Harry asked.

"I have always been able to talk! You just never understood me," he explained.

Harry tilted his head in amusement. He was accepting this way too quickly but was too lazy to do anything.

"So," Buckbeak started, "you asked why I am here." Harry nodded. "The sickly human brought me. Your father figure I believe."

Harry smiled. "Yea, Sirius is here so I guess it's only logical that you would be here."

Buckbeak settled his head in Harry's lap. "What is troubling you, and is there anything I can do to help?"

Harry ruffled Buckbeak's feathers. "I'm studying to try and kill a dark lord." Buckbeak made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a snort. Harry chuckled as well. "I am eager to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow and meet a new friend. I also want to purchase several supplies and weapons to help train me."

Buckbeak stretched slightly. "That would be irritating. You wish to gain power but you must wait. However, I think for the first day you must plan instead of learn."

"A plan?" Harry asked. He honestly couldn't believe he was having this conversation but decided not to question the magical world.

Buckbeak nodded. "Yes, what good would a hunt be if you do not plan beforehand? There could be a rival out there, trying to get your food, or even an easier prey."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "That would make sense… Buckbeak, can I ask a favor?"

"Favor? What is 'favor?'" Buckbeak asked.

"It means that I'm asking if you could help me with something."

"Oh, then why did you say so in the first place? I will give you… favor because I like you, you are nice and pet me in all the right spots."

Harry chuckled. "Well, this might sound weird, but can you teach me to fly?" He ignored Tagger's indignant shout from his mind. The small dragon and receded into the back of Harry's mind for the day.

"Fly?" Buckbeak cocked his head. "Cannot teach unless you change into dragon."

"How did you know about that?" Harry asked, suddenly wondering if his secret wasn't so secret anymore.

"Your smell," Buckbeak said simply. "The moment I came up to you, you smelled of dragon."

"Do you promise not to tell anyone?" Harry asked quickly.

"And who will I tell? No one else can understand but a few others in the forest." Harry wanted to hit himself over the head for forgetting.

"Do you still wish to learn?" Buckbeak asked. "I am bored and it is always interesting to watch the fawn learn to fly."

Harry nodded happily. "I'll just take my stuff back inside real quick."

"No need to. I will take you to a private area. You do not want to be seen, yes?" Harry nodded. "Then grab your belongings and hop on my back. I will take you to one of the hills we flew over the first time."

"The first time?" Harry asked, jumping onto Buckbeak.

"Yes," Buckbeak cried cheerfully, starting to run. "The first time when we took flight together! Your magic sparked all around that I felt I could fly forever! Sadly, the giant human commanded for me to come back down."

"You mean Hagrid?" Harry asked, holding onto Buckbeak for dear life and suddenly let out a whoop of joy as the great beast flew into the air at a marvelous speed.

"Yes, and it was that excitement that set my feathers a fizzle in power!" Buckbeak said happily. "Your excitement pleases me, fawn, and it is very powerful indeed."

Harry was no longer holding onto Buckbeak's neck with all his might. "I'm not that powerful," he said quietly.

Buckbeak's eyes flickered in his direction. "It is with that emotion that will bring you down. Don't worry, you may not accept it, but we creatures of old know it."

"Creature of old?" Harry questioned, staring at his reflection in the lake and smiled happily as Buckbeak made a dive and pulled up, making the water part slightly from the beating of his wings.

"A story for another time," Buckbeak said gently. He pulled up and headed for a large ledge, and least eighty feet above the lake. "Up here we are safe and away from prying eyes."

Harry got off and leaned over the ledge cautiously. "You sure it's safe?" His voice came out almost in a squeak and Buckbeak made a small chirping sound that Harry believed was a laugh.

"For the first time, a glide is in order. I do not believe you have had your wings long enough to get them strong for flight. How long have you had them?"

Harry shrugged. "Less than a day."

"Oh, yes, definitely not enough time. Well, transform quickly, I must start making my assessments."

Harry lifted an eyebrow and dropped the two books, his wand and his glasses far away from the ledge. He took off his shirt and shoes quickly after. Closing his eyes, he willed himself to transform. After feeling the tingling sensation, he opened his eyes and grinned toothily at the hippogriff.

Buckbeak squawked in shock. "A demon? My, my. My favorite human is simply full of surprises."

Harry frowned. "Is that a bad thing? I thought I would transform into a dragon, not a demon."

"Hmm, the stars have big plans for you," Buckbeak said wondrously. "But enough of that," he snapped before Harry could ask anything. ""Now, do you know the right wing movements? After only a day, a curious fawn should at least know the right movements."

Harry nodded. "Yes, I was showed by my inner animal. And I have a question. How would a newborn know the correct procedure?"

"Really? Not many creatures get in contact with their inner animal. As for your question, when a fawn is more mature, it gains the ability to observe. Just because it _knows_ he can do it, does not mean that he _can._"

Harry nodded. "I get it."

"Good. Now, I want you to show me the movements."

Harry nodded again and Harry bent a bit, beginning to feel his wings beating and blowing a few pebbles of the side of the cliff. After three minutes, Buckbeak nodded approvingly.

"Good, you know, unlike most humans, it's more of a rotation." Buckbeak walked to the very edge. "Now watch closely." Harry stopped beating his own wings and watched as Buckbeak spread his wings to full length, letting the wind blow against his feather.

With a deep breath, Buckbeak jumped and began his descent. Harry ran to the edge and looked down, his claws gripping at the rocks. Buckbeak fell in a graceful ark, pulling up when he only fell about fifteen feet. Angling his wings upward and to the left, he caught the wind and was pushed up, gliding toward the top once more.

"Amazing!" Harry shouted. "The way you caught the wind was awesome! How do you know when to turn? And were you nervous on your first flight?"

Buckbeak beat his wings carefully, remaining level with Harry but not touching the ground. "Instinct will tell you. Do not worry if you can not find it at first. I will catch you if you fall so there will be no need for worry. As for my first flight, I was very nervous. However, I think my excitement won out. How are you feeling about this?"

"Excited," Harry said breathlessly. "A little scared," he admitted, "but I love flying. A broom will mean nothing if I can fly with wings!" Harry spread his wings, nearly bouncing with anticipation.

"It is good you feel nervous," Buckbeak said. "Any fawn that did not feel scared would be a fool. It is with fear that you can make a decision that just might save your life. But enough of that go!"

Harry grinned and waited for Buckbeak to move aside as he took a running leap. He trusted Buckbeak to catch him but he planned on making sure he would have no reason to be caught. Here I go…was his last thought as he jumped.

Panic nearly gripped at him but he forced himself to be calm as he felt the air beat harshly against his face. Hmm, maybe a pair of goggles would be nice next time. Opening his wings a bit wider, Harry couldn't help the amazing feeling he felt take over. It was pure _excitement._

He managed to glide up a bit, using the wind and momentum to push him higher and higher. _"This feeling is so amazing!" _Harry thought dreamily. _"I can't believe I'm actually flying."_

Harry, who started to descent, beat his wings, hoping to gain more altitude. That was his first mistake. As soon as he flapped his wings, he lost momentum and started to fall. It was an ungraceful display as he tumbled and did several flips in the air, trying to gain his control over flight.

He felt something grab his tail and Harry hung limply about 20 feet over the water. Looking up, he saw Buckbeak holding his tail with claw. "It seems you do not have as much mastery over flight as you thought," Buckbeak said, flying back up to the top of the cliff.

Harry scowled and folded his hands angrily. "I guess I let my excitement get to me. I thought that if I beat my wings the right way, I would be able to… well, fly."

"And that would have been true, Harry," Buckbeak said and Harry blinked as he realized this was the first time he had even said his name. Buckbeak dropped Harry to the ground once he got to the top.

Harry rubbed his head, having landed on it. "A little warning would have been nice."

Buckbeak just clicked his beak in response. "Oh, the expression on the fawn at first flight is always interesting, and yours was no bore."

Harry clicked his teeth together in agitation.

"However, it does seem that you are a natural glider. Are you sure you have not done this before? No? Well, in any case, I suggest you keep practicing. Don't beat your wings frantically, clawing at the air. It is supposed to be smooth and graceful. You know that your tail like a rudder. It is what helps steer you in the right direction.

I saw you shift your tail in the right direction and time. The only thing I can tell you is that flight takes time. Even if you cannot fly, that does not mean you should not practice. Wings need muscle, and you do not seem to have very much of it."

"Hey!" Harry said indignantly. "First off, I would never stop practicing. Just because I fail once does not mean I should give up. And second, I have plenty of muscle!" Harry then attempted to flex but could come with only a little skin rising on his arms.

Buckbeak nudged his arm with his beak. "I do not see anything. Where is it you want me to look?"

Harry sighed. "Forget it. Can we try again?"

"But of course!" Buckbeak seemed even more delighted. "And miss a chance to feel your magic at its best? Not a chance. You need more practice than just one glide."

Harry smiled but was very curious about what Buckbeak meant about his magic. He decided to ask later.

They practiced gliding for at least three hours and there was still no progress. Harry wasn't anywhere close to mastering flight. He could glide perfectly well, but that wasn't exactly a huge accomplishment. Over and over Buckbeak had to catch by his arm or tail, much to Harry's annoyance.

"Uhg!" Harry pulled at his hair in frustration. "Three hours and I still can't do any better."

Buckbeak was curled up in a ball, looking very much like an overgrown cat. "Do not worry. In time you will be a master of the air. For now, you rest. Practice can come later. I am sure your wings are exhausted."

Harry sat down and rubbed his sore wings. Exhausted was an understatement. To pass the time, Buckbeak cleaned his wings with care and Harry took out his second book. It was the one that would show him diagrams of the human body and explain it. He was nervous, not exactly sure what to expect because he was both scared of the knowledge he had gotten from Voldemort and the knowledge he would receive.

Harry opened the book carefully. A human body was portrayed, showing no organs or bones, not even facial material such as eyes or a nose. Instead of that in the very center of the chest, was a white fire. It spread throughout the entire body, going down to the last finger and toe.

Harry ran a clawed finger over the diagram. He had decided to stay in his dragon form for now, to let his wings rest. It looked like there were lines going throughout the body. It was like veins, Harry mused, but little circles filled with even more white fire appeared about two centimeters away from each other on the line, connecting it all.

"_Those must be the sacs Voldemort was talking about," _Harry thought. He turned to the written summary and began to read.

Magical beings are in control of certain elements that make up their magic or sometimes known as 'chakra.' Magic becomes stronger not just by magical training, but physical activity. Although true that one base can only grow by magical practice the other six bases will not grow to their full potential. There are seven bases in total, each differing in color and meaning. No living being has ever had all seven magic bases. Theory states it is impossible, however, continued experiments indicate that all magical beings start out with seven bases but slowly lose some over time.

The first base is the color bronze. This base signifies not only physical activity, but the will and instinct to survive. Unfortunately, only the sick have a high magical signature at this base and slowly pass on, not leaving with much information. It is believed magical creatures, such as gryphon's, hellhounds, dragons, e.g. are the only creature capable of allowing their full potential to show. Because of their living conditions and constant fight for territory, survival is their highest priority. No living wizard alive today has reached their full potential in this area.

Harry smirked. "I bet I could prove that wrong."

The second base is green. Usually this deals with nature. Those who have a strong green aura are natural healers and have a fondness for plants, usually involving gardening. Research tells us that those in the presence of another with a green aura feel themselves calm, able to easily trust that person. Often, the green aura is used to point out leaders, for leaders must be calm and have a sense of security. That is not true. Said person is usually in a calm state of mind, able to hear and feel things others usually can't. If one has a high green aura but also has a high red aura (see red base for details) the mind is usually fighting with different emotions.

The third base is yellow. Yellow is a sense of freedom. It relates to those who are 'out of the box.' A person with a high base level is often carefree and always seems to have a sense of joy around them. He/She tend to think about the best instead of the worst in a situation. As enlightening as this seems, it can be their downfall. It is very wise not to anger one with a yellow base, for their temper can be worse than those with a high black base (see black base for more information.) Although it has not been recorded, an eye witness in early 1847 said it was the worst mistake of his life. Fortunately, it is very rare to be able to actually anger a yellow based person.

Harry took a deep breath and rubbed Buckbeak on the head. This was very interesting and he was eager to read more but it was time to head back. The others were probably worried about him. It had to be at least 1:00 or a little after noon.

Yawning widely, Harry said, "C'mon, sleepy head Buckbeak. We need to head back."

Buckbeak yawned just as wide. "Yes, it is getting rather late in the afternoon." Harry rolled his eyes. "Go ahead and read more from your book. You seemed to enjoy it and I need to stretch. My hind leg is still asleep." Harry nodded and decided to read the fourth base.

The fourth base is violet. The violet base is sometimes known as 'The Spiritual Eye.' This topic is a favorite amongst seers, believing a strong violet base will help them see into the future. While that theory is still being tested, evidence today states a violet base is more self-aware. It allows the person to be more intoned with his/her mind. Violet base people are usually excellent in the talent of Occlumency (see atlas for details.) They are more in control of their mind. Practicing Occlumency is an excellent way of strengthening this specific base.

Harry stared at the book, his eyes wide. He didn't even notice Buckbeak butted his shoulder. Occlumency? Could this type of magic help him keep Voldemort out of his mind? Harry quickly turned to the atlas section and was disappointed when there wasn't much information.

Occlumency is a branch of mind magic. Those who are skilled at Legilimency, are able to block their mind from unwanted intruders or even those who seek to possess them. To seek more information see, "Occlumency for the Weak Minded," or other Occlumency related books.

Harry groaned. That didn't give him any information at all. He suddenly smirked. If he could find some information on Occlumency and master it, he would no longer have to worry about Voldemort. He suddenly frowned in thought. He knew Voldemort could access his mind, he proved it last night, but how much would he do it? Was it nightly or just every now and then? Harry decided to just find out about as soon as possible.

The only problem was not letting anyone know. He couldn't afford anyone finding out that Voldemort was in his head. His friends would probably stay away from him forever. Dumbledore would probably assign guards 24/7 or even worse, lock him up. Harry shuddered and put his thoughts behind him.

He climbed on Buckbeak after transforming and gathering his things. "Sorry," he told him. "Just something that could really help me out." Buck just nodded and took off, taking the long way of course.

Harry laughed softly as the wind whipped at his hair. Despite not being able to fly, it was still a lot of fun and at least he could glide. That was fun too.

"Hey, Buckbeak," Harry called over the roar of the wind. "Is Hagrid at his cabin? I heard he had business to deal with and I don't if he's back or not."

"Who?" Buckbeak asked.

Harry rolled his eyes. "The big, hairy human."

"Oh. No, I have not seen my other feeding human, only the sickly human that ran away with me."

"Sirius?" Harry questioned as the two landed a little inside the Forbidden Forest. "I guess he's still busy then." Harry just shrugged and headed back up to the castle, his two books in hand.

"Arg! Stupid arrow!" an angry voice yelled. Harry paused in his steps and glanced at Buckbeak. He just blinked and followed Harry toward the sound.

Harry nearly gapped as he saw a female centaur trying to climb to its feet. On closer inspection, Harry could see her front leg was bleeding. "Do you need any help?" He asked, startling her.

She whipped around, anger in her eyes that nearly clouded her pain. "Human," she snarled. "What are you doing in the forest?"

Harry shrugged. "I was playing with Buckbeak, here." He gestured to Buckbeak who pawed at the ground in greeting.

"A hippogriff? What are you doing with one?" she questioned.

"I said I was playing with him," Harry said again, becoming annoyed at her tone of voice. "Look, I heard your scream and came over. Do you need any help?"

"I did not scream!" she all but yelled.

Harry lifted an eyebrow. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, especially since you're hurt. I only came over to help."

"Well, I don't need your help, human!" the centaur snapped.

"It looks like you do," Harry told her. "You can barely stand and that cut looks poisonous."

This time the centaur drooped slightly. "Well, what can you do about it, human?"

Harry came over slowly. "I can help you. Just trust me."

She scowled. "It's not wise to trust a human," she said scornfully."

"Then you haven't met that many nice humans," Harry told her as he instructed her to lie down. She did so but not without a glare.

He noticed a silver tip buried a little deep in her leg. He swore. "Look, this will hurt like hell," he told her. "Why were you even practicing with poisonous arrows in the first place?"

She glared at him. "To prove that females can be better than males at hunting and can participate in the hunt." She trailed off a bit. "Go ahead and try to get that arrow out, but if you do anything else, I'll gut you."

Harry just smiled encouragingly and brought his right hand out in front of him and concentrated. It turned into a claw. He heard the centaur gasp and said, "This stays between the two of us." She just nodded. "It'll hurt," he warned.

"I am not afraid of pain," she said.

Harry nodded and carefully cut the skin over the arrow, allowing it to pop out harmlessly. The only problem was the poison in her veins. Harry quickly put his mouth over the injury and sucked up as much blood as he could before spitting it out to the side. He did this over and over until the blood didn't have the strange taste anymore.

He glanced around, looking for a way to stop anymore blood loss and smiled as he saw a plant. He ripped a bit out and put it in her wound, making her hiss. "What was that, human?"

"It was Kingswoil," Harry told her, adding a bit more. "It will help the wound and stop anymore of the poison. If you go back to your herd, I'm sure they'll heal the rest."

"I cannot go back to my herd!" she yelled. "Females aren't allowed to practice weapons. If I'm caught, the offence will be huge!" She stared at him. "Where did you learn about plants?"

Harry showed her his healing book. "Besides charms, it also talks about several plants that will help."

She nodded but stared at him suspiciously. "I'm Kilian."

Harry smiled. "I'm Harry Potter."

Her eyes widened. "Are you really?" She circled him slowly, still wary of her injury.

Harry sighed. "Unfortunately. Well, I'll be seeing you."

He started walking away. "Wait!" Kilian called. She walked up to him. "Well, I wanted to say thanks."

"You are welcome." Harry glanced at the arrows. "Why does your herd not allow females to use weapons?"

Kilian scowled. "Females are supposed to cook the food and watch the young, nothing more nothing less." Harry cringed in sympathy.

"That almost sounds like my home only its, 'Don't ask questions!'"

"Don't ask questions?" Kilian echoed. "How can you learn anything without questions?"

Harry shrugged. "It was my relative's orders."

"Relatives?"

"My aunt and uncle," Harry clarified. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, but what are you going to say to your parents about your wound?"

Kilian shrugged. "Tell them I was bitten by the spiders."

"Good excuse," Harry grinned. "I was almost eaten by them when I was twelve."

"Nasty creatures, they are. The last centaur to get bitten was swollen all over they were completely purple!" They both made a face and burst out laughing.

After they calmed a bit, Kilian pawed at the ground. "Err, sorry about earlier. I don't see that many humans and the ones I do aren't really nice. It's only Hagrid that's nice."

Harry nodded. "Yes, I like Hagrid a lot. He was the one who showed me the magical world."

"You mean you didn't even know?" Kilian asked wide eyed.

Harry chuckled nervously. "No, I didn't even know about Hogwarts or anything." He frowned, silently cursing his relatives. "Do you need any help getting back to your herd I'm pretty sure you want to practice some more with your bow and arrow so do you need it hidden?"

"I just practice here," she said. "It's a bit far from the herd's territory but I'll be fine." She took the arrows and bow and buried it in a tree trunk. She gazed at Harry uncertainly. "Will you be back?"

"Do you want me to?" Harry asked incredulously.

She nodded quickly but slowed it down as she realized she must look like an overexcited child. "I mean, that is," she turned around, walking away with a smirk on her face, "if you aren't _scared_."

Harry gapped. "I'm not scared!"

"Great!" She beamed. "Wanna meet at the same place tomorrow?"

"Can we do it at night? I think I'm going to Diagon Alley tomorrow and won't be back till late."

She shook his hand in agreement but her voice turned cold. "I won't tell anyone about your hand if you don't tell anyone about this meeting. I can't allow anyone to know I was practicing with weapons."

Harry nodded. "I promise." She let go of his hand and walked away and out of sight, only pausing to scratch the sleeping Buckbeak behind his ears.

Harry sighed. "What an interesting day," he mused out loud. "See you later, Buckbeak." Buckbeak just yawned in response and went back to sleep.

Harry made it back up to the castle and was surprised when he didn't run into anyone. He even made it all the way to the Gryffindor common room and didn't see Ron or Hermione. After dropping his to books on his bed, he made his way down to one of the corridors, silently brooding at not finding anyone.

"Oooh, hello, Harry," said a girls voice. Harry looked up and saw Moaning Myrtle.

Harry blinked. "Myrtle, what are you doing here?"

Myrtle sniffed sadly. "Do you not want to see me?"

"Err, no, that wasn't what I meant at all. I was just wondering what you were doing out of your toilet."

She brightened up at that. "Oh, I just heard you brooding outside and came to see you." She turned sad again. "Last year you promised to see me again."

Harry cringed as he remembered talking to her in the Prefect bathroom.

"Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?" Myrtle asked.

Harry sighed but nodded nonetheless. Although today had been great and he had met a new friend, he was still a complete wreck. He followed Myrtle into the bathroom and leaned against the wall, watching her silently.

"So," she said unusually cheerful. "What is ailing you today?"

Harry scowled and sat down, his knees to his chest. He took out his wand and canceled the glamour charm on the manacle and lifted his pant leg to show Myrtle. "You remember Voldemort?" Myrtle shuddered at the name. "Well, he put these on me. …It'll help him to control me."

Myrtle gasped. They sat in silence.

"You know, Harry," Myrtle said slowly. "If that horrible man does kill you, you're always welcome to share my toilet."

Harry chuckled. "Thanks for the offer, Myrtle, but I plan on living."

She giggled and said softly, "You're welcome to sleep if you want. You look horribly troubled, especially for a human, and you look ready to faint."

Harry yawned. The day had indeed worn him out. He put his head on his knees, closing his eyes.

"You know, Harry," Myrtle whispered. "You have this problem with deciding to do something but often going back to you're sad, brooding self. Believe me, it's not a good feeling. If you choose to do something, don't lose track of that emotion, no matter how bad the situation is."

Harry kept his eyes open enough to say, "You know, Myrtle, that has to be the best advice ever given to me." She beamed and Harry fell asleep, unaware of a very pissed off potions professor.

- - - - - - - - - -

Severus Snape growled in frustration. They had just gotten the Potter brat back and now he decided to go off and make everyone give up their own time and go looking for him. Well, Snape wouldn't be having that. He would be the one to find Potter and give him a year's worth of detentions.

He scowled angrily at a bunch of giggling ghost. "Did you hear?" one asked.

Snape rolled his eyes. Just like females, whether dead or alive, to gossip.

"Yes, I heard Harry Potter was talking to Moaning Myrtle of all ghosts in her bathroom!" the other said.

That had Snape stop dead in tracks. Potter was in a girl's bathroom the entire time? Oh, Potter would be getting worse when Snape got a hold of him. Suddenly he paled. It wasn't just _any _girl's bathroom; it was the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.

Snape quickened his pace and even managed to scare Peeves away who had planned on hitting him with several spit wads. He open the door the angrily, his robes billowing around like mist. His eyes trailed to the sleeping figure near the sink. One glance at the female ghost had her out of sight in less than a second.

"Potter!" he screamed, grabbing Harry by the arm and pulling him up roughly.

Snape watched as Potter opened his eyes and flinched back, trying to get out of his hold. "Let go," Potter snarled.

"Oh, I don't think so, Potter," Snape practically purred, bringing him closer. "I'll have you expelled for this." He started dragging him towards the Great Hall.

"What did I even do?" Harry snapped, trying to loosen Snape's grip.

"Don't play dumb with me, Potter," Snape said. "Do I even need to ask what you were doing at the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets?"

Harry paled. "Si…sir, I swear I wasn't even thinking about going down there. I was just talking to Myrtle."

"Just talking to Myrtle, were you?" Snape mocked and Harry had to bite on his tongue to keep from screaming at him.

Harry's eyes suddenly widened and he grew calm and stopped fighting against the hold, despite Snape's painful grip. He wouldn't scream at the greasy git. He would allow Snape to take him to the others where he could tell them what happened in a calm voice. He would claim to have read all day and played with Buckbeak. While not exactly the full truth, it was the best Harry could give without giving anything away.

Snape narrowed his eyes as Harry stopped fighting. Harry himself wasn't even sure how he could calm himself down like that. Before, he would have screamed at the top of his lungs. He supposed the change he wanted and all the advice he was getting was finally sticking.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Tagger suddenly snapped, reappearing from his mind. "That greasy git. Make sure you get revenge on him later, Harry!"

Harry smirked, planning on doing that before the week was over.

They entered the Great Hall where everyone was waiting. Harry blinked as he saw a large cake and several presents. "What's going on?" he asked.

Ron gapped at him. It's your birthday, mate. How could you forget? And where have you been all day?"

"I would like to know that as well," Dumbledore said calmly, but Harry could tell there was a hint of relief.

Snape practically threw Harry towards the Headmaster. "I caught Potter in a girls bathroom."

Harry groaned as he heard the boys laugh at him. The girls, however, narrowed their eyes at him. Ginny, Harry noticed, went deathly white.

"Not just any bathroom you nitwits," Snape snapped at the twins and Ron. "It was the bathroom that led to the Chamber of Secrets."

Everyone quieted down and turned to stare at Harry. Harry fidgeted. "It's… true," he said finally.

"He admits it!" Snape practically crowed.

"I wasn't going to go down to the chamber," Harry snapped angrily. "I was only talking to Myrtle."

"What led you to have a conversation with Myrtle in the bathroom, Harry?" Dumbledore questioned and Harry blushed at how dumb that must have been. A girls bathroom for goodness sakes!

"She heard me…brooding and offered to talk with me," Harry said with a shrug.

Dumbledore's eyes seemed to twinkle again, having been a bit dull when Snape told everyone where Harry had been. "Well, if that's the case, I suggest we get on with the party."

Snape barely managed to keep his mouth from dropping to the floor in shock. "Headmaster, surely you will not allow Potter to get away with this?"

"If it bothers you that much, Severus, I shall talk with Myrtle later, if you like."

Snape gritted his teeth. "Even if the boy said nothing to open the chamber, where has he been all day? I doubt he was in a _bathroom_ all day talking about his feelings."

Harry glared but said nothing as he felt a calm presence surround him. He said nothing and was about to figure out where the presence came from before it went away. It almost felt like a hug, Harry thought sadly, just like earlier.

"After breakfast," Harry began, "I went to go see Madame Pomfrey about some healing books. The rest of the day I spent outside reading and playing with Buckbeak." He turned to look at Sirius's face and he could tell that not only him, but Remus as well, would give him a talking to later.

Harry scowled. "I don't see what the problem is. I was only playing with Buckbeak. It's not like I jumped off any cliffs, talked about my infinite death, or have a fight with a centaur." Harry smiled.

"Well, that settles that," Dumbledore said cheerfully. Harry kept a neutral face. Oh, if they only knew.

They ended up having the party after Snape stormed off, probably to think about revenge. It didn't matter much, because Harry was thinking the same thing. The party felt somewhat forced but they all had a good time nonetheless. Ginny refused to talk with him but when he told her in private that he wasn't even thinking about chamber, did she open up a bit more.

Harry ended up getting some very interesting presents. A new pair of seekers gloves from Ron. Good thing too, his were worn out. A defense book from Hermione and several others from Remus and Sirius. Homemade sweets from Mrs. Weasely and a large box of prank devices from the twins. He smiled at hem all and was surprised when he received a few more presents from the others.

Bill had given him a book curse breaking and smaller book to help translate. Tonks had given him a new quill that changed color every three minutes. He also got all his homework and belongings back. He was more relieved than anything. He did not want to work the last week of summer on essays he already did.

The most surprising but one of the best gifts was from Charlie. It was a large box covered in red and gold gift wrap. When Harry managed to tear it all away and look inside, he gave Charlie strange look.

Charlie just smiled. "Hermione and Ron told me you didn't get much when you were younger and these were some of my favorite things when I was when a child."

Harry pulled out a stuffed dragon that yawned widely and shifted its wings.

"Hah!" Tagger called. "That thing has nothing on me."

Harry smiled. "Thank you, Charlie, that means a lot."

"Go ahead and look some more," Charlie urged. "There's still more."

Curious, Harry pulled out several children's books. They were all about dragons but played out like an adventure. Harry laughed. "I guess you were interested in dragons your whole life, right?"

The twins laughed quietly, restraining themselves from bursting into full blown laughter by the secret they knew.

Charlie laughed as. "Yep, drove mum nuts." He leaned over and kissed his mum on the cheek.

She giggled and gave him a hug.

Harry smiled at everyone. "Thanks, this has been one of the best birthday's ever."

"Alas, Harry," Dumbledore said, standing up. "I still have one last present to give to you." Harry blinked and looked at his Headmaster curiously. Dumbledore pulled out a small bag. "Ah, here you are. Your own bag of lemon drops."

Harry burst out laughing. "Thanks professor."

Dumbledore beamed. "And I have another announcement. Tomorrow, you all will be able to go to Diagon Alley and pick up your school supplies and other knick knacks. Be ready at 9:00 in the morning."

Harry smiled and snorted as Ron groaned about waking up that early. When everything was cleaned up, Harry told the others he would catch up in a bit; he just wanted to check on Hedwig. The others said goodnight and Harry made his way to the Owlery.

Passing the Sorting Hat, Harry heard a small voice whisper, "Ah, Harry Potter. Many questions in your head, there are. Why not put me on once more and see if I made the right choice?"

Harry gulped but didn't say anything to the hat. He swore he could hear it laughing but decided to deal with that later. He had more important things to deal with.

Upon entering the Owlery, he saw Padfoot sound asleep in his nest. Hedwig still wasn't back yet. Harry sighed and rubbed Padfoot on the head.

"Are you Harry Potter," said a voice behind Harry, making him jump.

Harry turned and saw a small, but long red dragon. Harry blinked. "Who are you?"

The dragon bowed and said in an almost arrogant voice, "I am Mushu! I am the great dragon that was once a Chinese guardian and is now the guardian of a very special girl. A girl you'll meet tomorrow!"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You're Ash's guardian?"

"What?" Mushu blinked and laughed. "No, no, another girl. You'll find out tomorrow. But for now, I have a message for you."

"What is it?" Harry asked. "And do you know what happened to Hedwig?"

"Don't worry," Mushu said, waving a claw, "your owl is fine. She's still at the shop. Something happened."

"What is it?" Harry asked. "Is she hurt?"

"Relax, it's nothing serious. Just be patient."

Harry scowled. "I hate being told to be patient."

Mushu laughed. "I like you already. Enough of that, Ash and the others just want to know when you could meet them."

'Them?" Harry blinked but remembered Ash's friends. I'll be there tomorrow. I'll be arriving at 9:00 in the morning but probably won't be able to meet her at 10:00 or something."

"Don't worry about it," Mushu said. "I'm only here to find out the time." Harry nodded. "When you arrive tomorrow, I'll be there. Don't look for me, I'll find you."

Harry grinned. "Got it."

Mushu gave a thumbs up and started to fly out the window. "Man, I love my new guardian!" he announced. "She helped me gain the ability to fly!"

Harry's ears perked up. "You mean you couldn't fly before?" Better question was could she help?

"Nope, like I said, I was a guardian to an old Chinese family but the last of the line died over a hundred years ago. During that time, I was kicked out and was never given the ability to fly. Years later… well, I'll tell you some other time."

Harry nodded. "See you tomorrow, and it was nice meeting you!"

Mushu flew away, waving back and saying to himself, "I like him already. Now I know why Ash likes him so much."

Harry smiled happily and turned to a grinning Tagger. "Tomorrow will definitely be fun."

"You got it Harry," Tagger said. "The only problem is…"

"How to get rid of Hermione and Ron?" Harry finished.

They spent the entire night trying to think of a way before settling off to sleep, deciding to deal with it tomorrow.

- - - - - - - - -

Omg! I'm done with another one so quickly! Don't expect another chapter for a while though. Dang! 36 pages! I had to do one more chapter before Harry practices transforming and getting more into his new mature role.

I hope you all liked it!

I do not own Harry Potter.

I do not own Mushu or any Mulan character. Don't worry it will only be Mushu. No big crossover with anything. Just a few random characters. I think Mushu is the only character I'll use from something else. Anymore and I'll say something.

The sacs were an idea I got from Naruto. Every time they show a picture of guy doing chakra, they have these vein things and sac things that hold chakra. I thought, why can't that work with magic? I needed an idea to support the manacles. I got some angry reviews about the control thing.

I know Harry can't be controlled by the mind but there is nothing that says his nerves can't be controlled. So I don't own Naruto. The chakra bases were my own ideas although I'm sure there are sights about chakra or chi or something.

Oh well. Review people! Next chapter is what you've all been waiting for! A trip to Diagon Alley!

Emeralde thanks for the cookie!


	7. Gringotts

Hello people! I got the next chapter right here! I'm rather disappointed though, only getting 11 reviews for 36 pages. And I got that last chapter out fast! If people need help thinking of a review, I'll have questions down at the bottom cuz you'll forget if I just put em at the top.

Another thing, I'm sorry, but I have no idea how the pound system works. I'll only use U.S. money if I ever have Harry buy stuff at muggle shops. Also, I won't do accents like with Hagrid. I won't waste my time trying to figure out how to write down words where they're barely readable.

- - - - - - - - - - -

"Arg!" Harry yelled, screaming as he hit the glass wall. He was once again in his mind. It seemed Voldemort was planning to make this a nightly thing.

"_Punctum," _Voldemort said and watched in satisfaction as Harry's torso erupted in various cuts. Blood rushed out of the wounds, starting to stain the ground.

Harry clutched at his stomach weakly, staying on the ground. His breathing was weak but he continued to glare at Voldemort.

"Come now, pet," Voldemort purred, making a shiver go up Harry's spine. "You honestly did not think I would allow you to disrespect your master, did you?"

"You are not my master!" Harry yelled as loud as he could. Oh, how he would love to bury his foot in Voldemort face but without a wand he had no protection. He couldn't even transform here. He was stuck, despite being in his own mind.

"_Remkep." _What came next wasn't physical pain, but mental nightmares. Harry clutched at his head as he saw all his friends stare at him with accusing eyes. One by one they left him, abandoning him. Sirius and Remus yelled at him.

"Why aren't you a stag?!" Sirius yelled. "You're his son, aren't you?! You were supposed to be my tie to him!"

"I don't even know why I bothered to each you anything," Remus said coldly, his amber eyes glowing. "Nothing but trouble. Just look what you did to Sirius."

Harry felt tears roll down his cheeks as he saw the bloodied form of Sirius, his eyes still so accusing.

"Look at him," Ron muttered, now appearing before Harry. He spat at him. "We accept him as one of our own and look at how he treats us!" An image of a burning Burrow appeared.

"He probably doesn't even know how to love," Hermione sneered, coming up to Ron. "A thing… no, a _freak_ like him doesn't even know the meaning of love!"

Harry shook his head desperately. "NO!" he shouted. "I know how to love! Please…please don't leave me…"

The mental onslaught immediately stopped. Harry shakily looked up, tears still coming out. Voldemort was petting his head.

"Harry, I will _never_ leave you." Voldemort smiled coldly, taking Harry's chin in his hand. "Not like those _friends_ of yours."

"They would never leave me," Harry said defiantly.

Voldemort smirked. "Oh? You think not? Then why have you not told your beloved godfather about your little transformation, hmm?"

Harry said nothing.

"That's what I thought. You know he sees nothing more than the mere memory of James Potter." Voldemort leaned closer and whispered, "You mean nothing to him."

"No!" Harry wrenched himself away from Voldemort and curled into a ball in the corner. He closed his eyes, willing for him to wake up. He could not listen to Voldemort. Harry knew it was all lies, but that still didn't stop the hurt.

"You know it's true, Harry," Voldemort said, standing back a bit, as if admiring the damage he had done to Harry. "You and I are alike in so many ways that it seems as if we were looking into a mirror."

"I am nothing like you," Harry snarled, reopening his eyes.

"Oh? But aren't you? Both of us never had a place we could call home except Hogwarts. Both grew up unloved and friendless. We were ignorant of the world we belonged in, ignorant of our rightful power!" Voldemort's eyes were dark with hatred, as if reliving some distant memory. "Even you, the boy-who-lived," Voldemort spat, "grew up completely oblivious to his own rights and power!"

Harry scowled darkly.

"But most importantly," Voldemort said coldly, but Harry could hear some amusement in his voice. "We both don't know the meaning of love."

"I know how to love!" Harry snarled, thinking about the images in his head. "We might be similar in some ways, Voldemort, but that is something we will never have in common. I have friends who love me, and I am completely grateful to them." Harry stared back defiantly. "That is something you will never understand."

Voldemort just looked on amused. "Grateful, you say? Do you not see how easily you have fallen? You understand _nothing_ of love. The moment someone display's the smallest kindness to you, you follow them loyally, never once questioning them, because you have already been molded."

"I have been molded by no one but myself," Harry growled. "You will never beat me with your little lies." Harry smirked. "You're nothing but a coward, _Tom_." He said the last word slowly, letting it roll out for full effects.

Voldemort's face no longer held amusement. _"Catena!" _he all but roared. A small pole rose out of the ground and a chain, connected with the pole, shot around Harry's neck and dragged him to the ground so that he couldn't raise his head any more than a foot.

"It seems that I will be teaching my pet a little obedience early and quite painfully," Voldemort said viciously. Harry struggled as much as he could but being able to only raise his head a little less than a foot away was a little hard. _"Crucio."_

Harry didn't try to hide his scream like he had done all the previous times. He bucked and he jerked but the pain seemed to go on forever. He was sure pretty sure Voldemort held him under for a full minute.

Harry coughed weakly. "I… won't ever give into you… Tom."

"_Exuro." _Voldemort watched in delight as Harry once again convulsed on the ground. This spell was a little something he made up. It would cause the victim to feel as if their very body was on fire.

"Had enough, pet?" Voldemort said casually, noticing Harry's body shivering with sobs. Harry tried to turn his face away. Voldemort thought this amusing. The boy had his pride on the line as well. He would not let his enemy see his tears.

Voldemort inwardly rolled his eyes. How could this boy be so dense? The curses and power from now and early in the night would have normally killed a full grown man or at least drive them into insanity. Despite yelling and screaming, which Voldemort had already expected, Harry still fought back, something Voldemort hadn't anticipated.

It didn't matter much, Harry would learn obedience soon enough. Voldemort had thought of many ways to get Harry out of his way without killing him. Death would not come to the boy for a long time. Voldemort didn't want to kill him, like most people thought, he wanted the ultimate revenge. Revenge that would be humiliating to Harry, and sweet to him.

In the beginning, only days after the event with the portkey, Voldemort had thought long and hard what type of revenge he would have on Harry. His first thought was to have Harry become his right hand, with much discipline of course, just to see the look on Dumbledore's face. He dismissed that. He would have no way of controlling the boy if he had too much freedom and some control himself.

No, what he needed was to make him lower. A slave? He had no use for slaves since he had hundreds who already served him. It was when he had first learned about the manacles did he find the perfect revenge. Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort's pet, following him around on all fours for the rest of his life. Not only could he get the physical abuse Voldemort craved, Harry would be mentally tormented for the rest of his life. He, Harry Potter, doing everything his enemy commanded him to do without a will to fight, would lose the two things Voldemort wanted to see. It was his pride and his hope.

There was also the matter of a certain prophesy…

Voldemort knew he didn't know all of it. Killing Potter could be his downfall once again if he didn't do it right. So, for now, Voldemort would have his revenge by slowly crushing Harry's will to survive.

"Had enough, pet? I could do this all day." Voldemort toed Harry's hand but Harry tried to take a swipe at him. Of course he missed and Voldemort slammed his boot on Harry's hand.

Harry gritted his teeth and was thankful his hand wasn't broken. There was a definite sprain but no fractured bone. He looked up weakly and tried to pull his head free of the chain. He stopped after ten seconds. What was the use?

You know, Harry, you have this problem with deciding to do something but often going back to you're sad, brooding self.

Harry paused as Myrtle's words echoed in his head. His… His mind. This was _his_ mind! Not Voldemort's, not Dumbledore's, _his_! He glared at the chain, anger showing in his eyes that it looked like they were glowing. "Release me," he snarled and the chain disappeared.

If Harry hadn't been so angry, he probably would have gapped. The light around the prison flickered, settling for turning off and on every few seconds. All Harry saw was Voldemort's shocked eyes before his anger completely overtook him.

"Get out!" he roared. Lightning crackled everywhere. Voldemort jumped back as a stray bolt hit his hand. He left immediately but Harry didn't notice. His teeth were sharpening and his fingers turned to claws.

"This is my mind! Mine!" Harry continued to yell, lightning crackling everywhere and the outside of the box looked like a mixture of fire and water rain. "It's my mind," Harry said with finality, awakening into the real world.

Harry stared at his curtains, his eyes wide but with a fierce glare. Little bits of electricity flickered around it. Harry poked it with his finger and jerked it back. That had hurt! Sighing, Harry was glad he had decided to put that silencing charm over his bed before going to sleep.

He groaned as he noticed his bloody torso. Stupid Voldemort. Ripping the curtains away quickly and receiving a few shocks, Harry walked toward the bathroom. Before entering he checked the clock and noticed it was only 6:00. What was with him waking up this early? With a quick glance at Ron, Harry entered the bathroom and stared at a drop of water on the sink.

He touched it and brought his hand back quickly but was relieved when there was no shock. Undressing quickly, he entered the shower and sighed in relief as the warm water rained down on his skin. He closed his eyes in bliss and for a moment, he was pretty sure he saw lightning flicker.

Harry grunted as he rubbed his abused chest. Some were actually scabbing over already and Harry suspected that wounds from his mind wouldn't last long in the real world. After soaking for another thirty minutes, Harry exited the shower.

He glanced at his reflection and scowled. He did not like what he was seeing. He saw a small boy with little to no muscle. A boy with no real magical potential. He saw a _boy_ covered in a large amount of bruises. He saw _weakness._ He did not like this at all.

He rested his forehead against the glass mirror and stared into his eyes. "I will beat you, Voldemort," he whispered coldly. "But I will not lose myself either."

That was when he vowed never to cry again and, if necessary, to never sleep.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Severus!" an angry voice barked.

Severus Snape flinched as he heard his master call him. The dark Lord had been more brutal than usual in the morning meeting. And that was saying something.

"Yes, my Lord?" he said while bowing and kissing the hem of his robes. He did not have a good feeling about this. Especially since the two were alone with only the quivering Wormtail.

Voldemort narrowed his eyes at the potions master. "I want you to brew me a few potions."

Snape barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It wasn't like he did much else. "Of course, my Lord."

Voldemort tapped his fingers against the arm of his chair, staring at Snape as if searching for an answer. Apparently he found his answer and said in a cold voice, "I want the Viniculum potion and several potions that cure burns from lightning."

Snape gave a start but kept his face neutral. The Viniculum potion was very complex and would usually take months to finish. With teaching and doing the odd little job for Voldemort, it would take much longer. And what was with the healing potions? Surely the Dark Lord had a decent stock.

As if following Snape's train of thought, Voldemort said, "Don't worry about the time for the first potion. As long as it is done before the year is over, there shall be no consequences. As for the others…" Voldemort trailed off and stood up.

He stood in front of Snape and lifted his left hand out of his cloak. Snape held in a gasp. It was completely black and despite it still looking strong enough to move, Snape assumed it was very painful. He guessed Voldemort had already used many spells and had to resort to him as a last resort.

"I am sure this conversation will be kept a secret, Severus," Voldemort said softly. "Or I would be _very_ disappointed."

Snape bowed low. "Of course, my Lord."

"Very well, Serverus. You are dismissed."

Snape left swiftly, hoping to get out of there as soon as possible. He sneered as he passed Lucius Malfoy and hoped no one would stop him from getting out.

"Hey, Snape!" Bellatrix shouted.

Snape glared and for some reason, he blamed Potter for this.

- - - - - - - - - - -

"_Incarcerous!" _Harry yelled, aiming at a chair and watched as ropes flew out of his wand and wrapped tightly on the chair. Harry smiled triumphantly but it was short lived as the grip loosened and fell to the floor.

Harry scowled and folded his arms. "What am I doing wrong?" he muttered. Pacing, he said to himself, "I'm doing what McGonagall told me to do. I'm not forcing too much magic, but I still don't feel that draining feeling."

He was growing frustrated. He had been practicing for over an hour on hexes and jinxes but only got two down. One was _piera_, which shot small stones at a target, and _frigus_, which shot ice. Those two had taken long enough to get down and a simple binding spell was taking too long.

Grinding his teeth in frustration, Harry took a deep breath to calm him down. If he was angry, he couldn't concentrate, without concentration, he couldn't get stronger. Harry decided to assess the situation. He had the correct wand movement and said everything perfectly; it just seemed he couldn't get passes this part.

Harry looked at his wand. "I'm too angry, and my magic feels strange when I use it." Harry contemplated this. Did his magic respond to his emotions? Did it respond when he tried to bring it out?

"Let's try this one more time," Harry said. "_Incarcerous!" _He said this with so much concentration and will that he even surprised himself. "Yes!" The ropes bound the chair tightly and did not loosen this time. Now, why did it work this time?

Was it is concentration or his will? Was it both? Whatever it was, Harry smiled triumphantly as he felt his magic no longer spark. He supposed it sparked like that when he got angry.

Shrugging that off, Harry looked at the next spell in the book he had gotten out of the library. The best part about the holidays was that there were barely any teachers in the castle and the librarian was not one of the people who stayed.

"Hmm, _episkey_ is next, huh?" Now that was something he needed. This would heal small injuries. He took off his shirt and pointed his wand at his chest. He had to remember that with healing charms, he had to envision each cell being reformed. Grinning, knowing he would get this one down fast because he had finished the book Pomfrey gave him, said, "_Episkey." _

Each cut slowly closed up and Harry sighed in relief as the pain went away as well. His original thought was going to Madame Pomfrey instead of training, but he couldn't chance her finding out how he had really gotten these.

"Now for the next spell!" Harry said cheerfully but gave a start as his stomach rumbled. Grinning ruefully, he made his way down to the kitchens after putting his shirt back on, bringing his bag along.

He wasn't that surprised when Dobby ran up to him and hugged him around the middle, cutting off his air supply and say, "Harry Potter sir! Harry Potter sir! You has come to see Dobby! Oh, Dobby is very gifted to have such a wonderful friend as Harry Potter!"

Harry managed to pull the elf off of him. "It's nice to see you too, Dobby." Dobby smiled even wider. "I was wondering if I could just get some breakfast, perhaps."

"Of course, Harry Potter sir. Would you like the same as yesterday?"

Harry's mouth watered slightly as he thought about the delicious meat. "Yes, please. That meat was very good and I wouldn't mind some strawberries and kiwi as well."

Dobby led him over to a small table as many elves bustled around him, offering him sweets and drinks. A female elf came up to him with his breakfast and bowed low. "Here you are, sir! Dippy has made Harry Potter his breakfast and is willing to continue the same diet during the school year."

"Will you really?" Harry asked in surprise. He didn't know the house elves would do that.

"Oh, yes, Harry Potter. Dippy is most excited to be making Harry Potter's breakfast."

Harry fidgeted a little but smiled at the overexcited elf. "Thank you very much, Dippy."

She beamed and bowed once more, leaving him to eat in peace. As Harry began to eat happily, he and Dobby chatted. It seemed the strange elf had been collecting socks more so than usual. Dobby even offered to show Harry his large collection but Harry quickly denied. Winky had also been doing better than last year.

She had stopped drinking but acted somber most of the time and still had tears leaking out of her eyes. Both Harry and Dobby tried to cheer her up but it was all for naught. They even talked about Harry's magic. For some reason, all the elves could feel it.

"Harry Potter sir is very distraught," Dobby told him. "Sirs magic surrounding you, sending out small shockies."

"Small shockies?" Harry questioned.

Dobby nodded. "Yes, sirs magic is creating small amounts of electricity. It fears for your safety."

"Why would it fear my safety right now?" Harry asked. Now this was strange.

"Sir has probably gone through something traumatic." Harry raised an eyebrow. When had he not? "Magic has formed into what element best fits you and protects the both of you."

"Both of us?"

"Yes, magic is you but not you." Harry rolled his eyes at the description. "If sir wishes to stop, sir must ask magic to stop."

"Just tell it to stop?" Harry asked, very bewildered.

Dobby nodded vigorously. "Yes, sir!"

Harry looked doubtful. "Is my magic acting… wild?"

Dobby looked sad for a moment. "Sirs magic could hurt someone if not controlling it in time. Too much and your magic will soon strike out others, even without your command."

Harry's eyes widened. "Dobby! How do I tell it to stop?"

"Sir must be calm and simply tell his mind."

"You mean think it?"

Dobby beamed. "Yes! Sometimes, Harry Potter sir, magic is just as simple as that."

Harry stared at his hands. Would his magic truly hurt people if left uncontrolled? And why was it acting now? Was it because of what happened in his mind? Harry just closed his eyes and thought savagely, "_Stop, I don't want you to hurt anyone."_

Harry gasped as he felt a force tighten around his body. It wasn't painful, more like saying, 'I'm here.'

Dobby was jumping up and down. "Harry Potter sir did it. Was easy, yes?"

"Err, yea, Dobby." Harry sighed. "Dobby, if my magic gets out of control again, will it stop like last time."

Dobby thought about this and said very seriously, "If magic gets too strong, sir may not be able to control his own magic!"

Harry gulped. "Do you know anyway I can? Perhaps there's a book or something."

Dobby smiled, excited at the prospect of helping Harry Potter. "Yes, sir! I do believe there's a book about magic that deals with your situation."

"Really? Do you know what it is?"

Dobby's ears drooped a little. "Sorry, sir, but Dobby is not knowing the name. Dobby is only knowing that the book might be located in Knockturn Alley."

Harry frowned. No problem. He was already planning on making a trip down there anyway. He started walking to the door. "Thanks for everything, Dobby, but I need to go meet with the others."

Dobby just said a cheerful goodbye.

Harry walked into the Great Hall and was surprised to see several others. He was even more surprised to Ron awake. "Hey, Ron, why are you up so early?"

Ron glared at him, making Harry wonder what was wrong. "It's 8:20, and thanks a lot for waking me up."

Harry raised a brow at the attitude. "I woke up at 6:00. Sorry if I didn't wake you up so early."

Ron deflated a little but said nothing more. Hermione rolled her eyes and waved Harry over, giggling slightly. Harry, curious about was making her so happy, said, "What's up with you?"

Hermione giggled some more and whispered, "Ron's only angry because I burst into your room, trying to wake you up and saw him dressed in his little heart boxers."

Harry stifled a laugh and glanced over at Ron. "Oh, mate, now I'm really sorry I didn't wake you up. The sight of you only in pink boxer shorts must have traumatized poor Hermione." The twins laughed and Ron scowled but started chuckling as well after a few minutes.

"So what shops will we look at today?" Ron asked.

"Well, how long do we have?" Harry asked, hoping to gain some information.

Ron shrugged. "Let's see… Since were leaving at nine, and mum said something about getting back at around one thirty or something, we have most of the day."

Harry nodded. They would of course go to Gringotts first, and that shouldn't take too much time. He would later suggest they all split up and check out different stores so they all get a little something they wanted and meet back later for lunch. It was perfect! He would enter Ash's shop and ask if he could stay transformed all day so none of the Order members could find him! They would just assume he stayed in the shop all day or something.

Harry glanced at Hermione. "What about you, 'Mione? Anywhere you want to check out?"

"Hmm, definitely Flourish and Blott's." Ron snorted at the obvious choice and Hermione glared. "And I guess we could just look around, after getting our school supplies of course."

Harry smiled and looked up as Mrs. Weasely came over. "Oh, Harry dear, were just about to go look for you. We will be leaving soon. Have you had anything to eat yet?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, Mrs. Weasely. I had breakfast in the kitchens and I'm ready to go. I guess I can just leave my bag in the Great Hall and come back for it later since we'll be leaving soon."

Mrs. Weasely smiled kindly t him and played with his hair. "You know, Harry, your hair seems to be getting a tad bit long. I could give it quick trim if you wanted…"

A loud laugh had them all looking up as Bill made his way over. "So because you can't get a hold of my hair, you're going after Harry?"

Mrs. Weasely blushed. "I am doing nothing of the sort, dear." She played around with Harry's hair a bit more and Harry relished in the touch. He liked it a lot. "His hair _is_ getting a bit out of hand and I only offered to help."

Bill rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, mum."

Mrs. Weasely turned back to Harry. "What do you say, dear? Will you allow me to give you a quick cut?"

Harry furrowed his brow. He didn't see the harm in it. Perhaps this could help being unnoticed later. He ignored Ron and Bill as they shook their head. "Sure, Mrs. Weasely."

She beamed and whipped out her wand so fast and looked just a bit too pleased. Harry wondered if he had made a mistake. She forced him up and sat him down on a stool she conjured. "This won't hurt a bit, dear."

This time Harry nearly bolted. Haircuts didn't hurt, but why did she have to warn him? He saw Bill laughing and the twins and Ron placing bets on how much hair he would lose.

Mrs. Weasely started the horrible process and Harry could only watch as a small amount of hair started to pile of on the ground. A good ten minutes later, he was done. Harry looked up cautiously as Hermione and Ginny made their way over to him.

Ginny circled. "Not bad, mum," she said cheerfully. "You managed to get rid of that birds nest."

Hermione said just as cheerfully, "Oh, Harry! You look so good. Quite a bit of hair is off now but it still manages to cover your scar."

"Err, thanks guys." He looked around for a moment and Ginny, understanding what he wanted, gave him a mirror. "Thanks, Gin." She smiled shyly and Harry looked into the mirror.

It was good, he admitted, but it wasn't _him._ "It's…interesting," he said aloud. Ron rolled his eyes and Bill was starting to argue with his mother, telling her he was not getting his trimmed.

Harry stared long and hard. He felt guilty about not liking the new cut. After all, Mrs. Weasely had worked hard. His hair no longer had the long flocks but still enough to give at least an inch of hair. He shook his head and put the mirror down. He gasped as he felt his head start to prickle. He hoped he wasn't starting to transform right then and there. He put his hand to his head, hoping not to find any scales.

To his confusion, he felt his hair. The problem was that his hand was only at his shoulders. "Err, is it just me, or did my hair have a growth spurt?"

This caused everyone to look at him. Bill was laughing harder than ever. "Whoa, Harry, what did you do?" Ron asked, laughing.

"How could this have happened?" Mrs. Weasely cried. "After you finally got a trim too."

"Harry smiled sheepishly. "I guess it'll always do that. Although," he said while running a hand through his hair, "it's never gotten this long before."

"Before?" Hermione asked.

Harry nodded. "When I was younger, every time I went to get a hair cut, it always grew back right away. My Aunt usually thought I spent the money on sweets instead of a haircut."

Ginny pulled at his hair. "It'll have to do," she told him. "Besides, I think Bill is about to convert you."

"What?" Harry asked.

Bill just handed him a ponytail. "For your hair," he told him with a grin.

Harry rolled his eyes but tied his hair up. He glanced back at the mirror. He liked it, at least better than the cut, and decided to keep it for now. "Sorry, Mrs. Weasely."

She just smiled. "No need to be sorry, Harry. Well, we best be going."

Harry nodded and followed everyone as they made their way to Dumbledore's office. He guessed they would arrive at the Leaky Cauldron by floo.

"I see everyone is here," Dumbledore said cheerfully. "Since my office has the only fireplace in the castle that allows floo, you'll be traveling through here." He gestured at the fireplace beside his desk.

Harry watched as several people went through. His guards, he thought angrily. However, it was quite amusing to watch Remus and Sirius fight.

"You're not going, Sirius, and that's final!" Remus yelled.

"I'll be careful!" Sirius yelled back. "I won't get caught."

Harry smiled and jumped a little as he felt something brush against his face. Fawkes was nuzzling him. "Hello, Fawkes," Harry said cheerfully. He scratched the phoenix under his chin. Fawkes closed his eyes, enjoying it.

"Fawkes is so beautiful," Hermione whispered.

Harry agreed silently. Fawkes was beautiful. Gold and red feathers practically glowed and Harry wondered if Fawkes just had a burning day.

"Harry, you're up next," Ron told him.

Harry felt a twinge of annoyance. He said nothing and gave Fawkes one last pat and grabbed a pinch of floo powder. "Diagon Alley!" he said clearly.

Harry kept his eyes shut and grunted as he shot out of the other end and landed painfully on his side. He glared at the others as they laughed. He got up and dusted himself off. He glanced at the fireplace as Ron and then Hermione shot out. He scowled as they managed to stay on their feet.

Ron saw his expression and grinned. "Didn't stay up, Harry?"

"Shut it, Ron." Harry grumbled. Ron only laughed.

"Ok you lot," Tonks said. "Let's head on down to Gringotts."

Harry frowned. Would they be ordered around all day?

After passing through the brick wall, they made it to Gringotts. Everyone got in line but Harry saw a familiar face. "Hey, Griphook!" Harry said, coming up to the goblin.

Griphook flinched. He obviously wasn't expecting a hello. "Yes, sir? How may I be of service?"

Harry grinned. "I was wondering if you could take me down to my vault, please." He handed Griphook the key.

"Of course, sir. But if I may ask, how is it you know my name?"

Harry scratched his head a little ruefully. "Well, I don't think you'll remember, but you were the first goblin to escort me down to my vault."

Griphook narrowed his eyes but apparently saw no tricks after a moment and said, "Yes, Mr. Potter, I do remember. I was just surprised. It is not often a wizard remembers the name of a goblin."

Really?" Harry asked. "Now that's just dumb. You guys take care of our money. The least people could do is be grateful."

Griphook's eyes widened slightly but kept his face neutral. "Sir, about your vaults, there is something that must be discussed."

Harry frowned. "Vaults? I thought I only had one."

Griphook shook his head. "At the moment, I don't know how much you have; however, I have important business that I must discuss with you. If you do not wish to speak with me, I shall alert the manager where you two can talk in private."

Harry shook his head. "No, that's fine; you can tell me what it is."

Griphook nodded. "It has come to our attention that you have been emancipated."

"How do you know about that?" Harry asked, suddenly worried that the Ministry had spread the news.

"We have certain spells that tell us the circumstances of your guardians. We have been alerted that yours have given up custody, thus making you a legal adult. Normally, we would have told you about the vault when you reached age seventeen but because this case is different, we must discuss certain issues."

Harry nodded. "Err, if you don't mind me asking, Griphook, but does anyone else know about these other vaults?"

"A wise question to ask, Mr. Potter," Griphook said. "The only one who knows is Albus Dumbledore."

Harry narrowed his eyes in anger. Why wasn't he told? He could understand the goblins, but why Dumbledore? "Thanks for the information, Griphook," Harry said honestly. "Do you know how long it will take to get everything in order?"

Griphook rubbed his chin. "I would say an hour at least, Mr. Potter."

Harry was about to object but his eyes widened. He had plenty of time! Mushu was supposed to find him later, and this is how he could get away from the others.

"Well, let's do this now," Harry said cheerfully. "If you don't mind, I need to go tell my friends first."

"Of course, Mr. Potter."

Harry walked over to the others quickly. "Hey, Harry," Ron whispered, "why were you talking with that goblin?"

He ignored the question and said, "Mrs. Weasely?" He waited for her to turn around.

"Yes, dear?"

"There are some problems with my vaults that need to be sorted out and Griphook said it should take an hour."

"An hour?" Mrs. Weasely said. "What on earth is wrong?"

"Nothing big," Harry assured her. "It just has to do with my emancipation."

"You were emancipated?" Ron asked, slack-jawed.

"Yea, didn't you know?"

Hermione shook her head. "But what about shopping?"

This is what he was waiting for. "Since it'll take an hour, it would be pretty dumb to meet up and get school supplies since you're sure to get it anyways. How about we shop on our own for a while and meet back later for lunch? How about 12:30? Then we can hit a few shops together."

Mrs. Weasely was about to object, but Mr. Weasely put a hand on her shoulder. "If that is what would work for you, Harry." Harry smiled gratefully and headed back to Griphook.

"What did you do that for, dad?" Ron asked angrily.

Mr. Weasely looked at his son seriously. "Harry has just gone through a tough ordeal. Haven't you noticed he's been staying away from people? I think he needs a bit of time to himself."

"But we're his friends," Hermione said.

"Yea, whatever's bothering, Harry, we can help him," Ron said.

"I'm sure you two will," Mr. Weasely said kindly. "But it would be best not to force him to do anything right now. I'm sure he'll come out of his shell in a day or so. Do not forget the portkey incident. His little adventure a few days ago isn't helping matters."

Ron and Hermione only nodded.

"Besides," Tonks said, eavesdropping on their conversation. "There will be guards following Harry as soon as he leaves Gringotts to make sure he stays out of trouble."

- - - - - - - - - -

"You mean I own a small percentage of these stores!?" Harry asked, gapping at the parchment he was holding. At the moment, Griphook had led him into a private office.

"Yes, sir," Griphook nodded. "The fact that the Potter's are an old family and have several investments has made you quite rich."

"But what do I do about it?" Harry asked.

"Well," Griphook said carefully, "if I as in your position, I would contact the owners of the more important businesses and discuss future meetings and certain advantages. Some you can get rid of, buy completely, or give generous donations."

Harry nodded slowly. This was a big shock. Learning that he helped control several businesses was a large shock. He stared at the list. It read:

44 - Egyptian Pyramids (Bennu Potter)

5 - Vineyards in Italy (Joshua Potter)

2 - Firewhiskey (James Potter, Sirius Black)

17 - Magical creatures and beings protection agency (Mathew Potter)

2 - several diamond and gem mines in Africa (Sebastian Potter)

49 - Werewolf Center (James Potter, Remus Lupin)

27 - Grim Foundation (James Potter, Sirius Black)

4 - Honeydukes (James Potter, Peter Pettigrew)

Harry narrowed his eyes at the last name but couldn't help but be amazed at how much his father had contributed. He laughed at the firewhiskey and turned back to Griphook. "Um, do you know why others are on the list, like Sirius and Remus?"

"Of course, Mr. Potter. It was merely your father's idea that his friends be on the list so that others know they helped or came up with the idea." Griphook suddenly sneered. "Although the first one Mr. Black helped with wasn't exactly… helpful." Harry grinned. "Although, they have given the Potter vault quite an amount of galleons."

"Do you know how much money I have total?" Harry asked.

Griphook nodded and produced another piece of paper. "On the top is your vault numbers and the number you have total. When you are done, I shall explain some rules."

Harry nodded and gasped. His normal vault had 2,982,534 galleons. The Potter vault, vault 34, had 7,899,605 galleons. Another, which read vault 13, said 3,112,010 galleons.

Harry's eyes were as large as saucers as he read the total: 13,994,249 galleons.

"I…I…wow."

Griphook chuckled, amused by his expression. "Yes, Mr. Potter, you are quite wealthy but not the wealthiest. There are many pureblood families who have more businesses and have a larger income. However, that does that not mean you are not satisfied for at least several life times."

Harry nodded dumbly but suddenly turned serious. He had planned on spending a lot anyway. This could also help as well. "Griphook," Harry said, deadly serious. "I need your opinion on something very important."

Griphook looked surprised. "My opinion?"

Harry nodded and leaned closer and sat up straight. "We are at war, and the Ministry is turning a blind eye towards it. Fudge is blaming the wrong people. Basically, if things continue, we will lose this war."

Griphook folded his hands and leaned on his desk. "The goblins have decided to remain neutral, Mr. Potter. I am afraid that we will neither aid nor attack any side."

Harry shook his head. "I'm not asking you to join me," Harry said. He sighed, and Griphook swore he was looking into the eyes of an old man. "I'm losing hope for the human world. Prejudices are going too far, and its spreading unneeded hate. Voldemort won't just attack humans, but other races as well."

Griphook involuntarily leaned forward as this caught his interest. "Are you saying you will not fight with other humans?"

Harry shook his head. "Voldemort is spreading alliances with different beings, something this…Ministry," Harry spat, "won't do. Dumbledore can only do so much."

"And what about Dumbledore, Mr. Potter?" Griphook inquired. "Will you not join him?"

"Yes," Harry said slowly. "But actions must be taken. I _will_ take action in this war. Unfortunately, Professor Dumbledore is restraining me."

"Is he locking you magic?" Griphook asked, a sudden steel in his voice.

Harry shook his head. "I don't think so. He's just very against the dark arts."

"And you are not?"

Harry sighed. "Some, I definitely don't agree with but like I said, we are at war. Ever hear of the term 'fire vs. fire?' It will definitely help."

Griphook's grin suddenly became very scary. "So you wish to become the third party in this war?"

Harry looked at the ground in thought. "Not yet," he told him. "But like I said, I _hate_ prejudice. I hate people who don't accept hose who are different or because of some hidden ability." Harry's voice became cold. "I hate those that think others are freaks."

Griphook stood up suddenly. "Mr. Potter, by your tone of voice I would estimate you have gone through similar prejudice but I shall not pry. I will, however, give you several papers that show certain items many have asked the Ministry for but have been denied because of either race or not enough funds."

"I do not wish to buy people," Harry said gravely. "I only offer kindness and a hope injustices will be gotten rid of."

Griphook still handed him the papers. "And these will help with your kindness." He sneered suddenly. "Money can say a lot of thing, Mr. Potter, but actions have a whole new meaning."

Harry stared and finally accepted the papers, grinning in thanks.

"Now, some rules regarding your vaults," Griphook said, sitting down once more. "You are not allowed to remove any money or jewels from the family vault but you are allowed to remove other items. For your own vault, you may remove as much money as you want but your guardian shall be informed."

"My guardian?" Harry asked, narrowing his eyes. "Was I not emancipated? Why would the Dursley's need to know?"

"Not your relatives, sir, but Dumbledore," Griphook told him, a frown on his face. "Because you were too young, Dumbledore assigned himself as manager of your accounts."

Harry suddenly felt cold. "Did… did he remove any money?"

"No, Mr. Potter, not once has he tried."

Harry sighed in relief. He wasn't sure of what to think about his Headmaster. He was seeing him very differently now.

"I can assure you," Griphook continued, "that Dumbledore is on your side, despite your different thoughts. He has not tried to change any accounts or remove several businesses."

Harry nodded. "Do you mind if we go down to the vaults after a few questions?"

"Go right ahead, Mr. Potter."

"First, thank you for giving me such good advice." Griphook said nothing but looked a little uncomfortable. Harry continued. "Second, I was wondering why I own so many pyramids."

"An easy question," Griphook informed. "Your great-grandmother, Benuu Potter, was Egyptian. She was adopted by jackal and cat demons. Quite an odd mixture but the two clans run most of Egypt together in peace. Those are clans I would recommend getting in touch with."

Harry was awed by what Griphook was telling him and he could only nod. He had Egyptian blood him! It was almost heart wrenching to know that he knew nothing of his ancestry.

"Because Benuu Potter, your great-grandmother, was adopted by those clans, she gained all rights they had, such as owning quite a bit of treasure and pyramids. They actually help supply Gringotts with treasure and gold."

Harry smirked a little at Griphook's face. He knew goblins were greedy and Griphook was no exception.

"Anymore questions?"

Harry nodded. "Just one. I was wondering who owned vault number 13."

Griphook smiled with amusement. "You are aware, Mr. Potter, that number 13 is usually associated with bad luck, yes?" Harry nodded. "No one, for over a thousand years bought vault 13. That is, until I met with your father."

Harry's eyes widened. "My dad?"

"Yes, when your father found out the reason, he thought it hilarious and bought it right away. He has a fair amount items in there, along with the gold he and his friends invested in. I assume you are ready to see it?"

"Actually," Harry grinned sheepishly. "Just one more question. Do you have a way for me to carry my galleons safely without carrying a large bag of gold? And even a way to access muggle money?"

Griphook didn't show irritation, but instead showed greed. He was about to make a great deal and they both knew it. He pulled out a small bag and wallet from his desk. "The bag, Mr. Potter, will allow you pour out as many galleons as you like. Just say how much you want and it will poor out. For the wallet, just say how much muggle money you want and pull it out."

"I'll take it," Harry said immediately. "Is there anything else I need to be aware of?"

"They will allow no one else to access them even if they are stolen, and they have several anti-theft charms on it. They are also weightless and will transport back to you if someone else tries to access any money. The costs are 100 galleons each."

"Deal," Harry said. He signed the form and said, "I would appreciate it if no one else knew about this."

"All on goings are confidential. As for Mr. Dumbledore, you now being a legal adult will no longer make me report to him."

Harry smiled and stood up. "Shall we?"

Griphook led the way.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

The cart ride was as eventful as ever. They had already made a trip to his personal vault and were on their way down to the lowest of all vaults. It seemed that the oldest families had vaults in the first one hundred vaults. A few that were almost as old had the first hundreds. It was an interesting fact to know and Griphook had informed him that the first four vaults were owned by the founders themselves.

No known heir was said to come into any of the vaults in the last five hundred years. Harry assumed Voldemort hadn't tried because he'd be caught and thrown into Azkaban without a second thought. Harry grinned at the image but lurched forward as the cart stopped suddenly.

"Griphook, what's wrong?" he asked. They weren't even in front of a vault.

Griphook had turned deathly white. "Sir, I suggest no sudden movements. I have never seen any of them this close without a reason."

Harry could feel a warm breath behind his back and slowly turned around. He froze as he saw a large reptilian head only inches from his own. It was one of Gringotts personal dragons. It had black scales and large yellow eyes that blinked slowly at him.

For some reason, Harry puffed out his chest. He was _not_ intimidated by her. How he knew the dragon was female was beyond him. He bared his teeth.

"What's up with her?" Tagger demanded, coming out for the first time that day.

The dragon just sniffed him and then to everyone's surprise, and Harry's horror, she licked him with a large, wet tongue. That was when Griphook forced the car to get out of there as fast as possible.

Harry could only flick away the saliva with disgust and ignore Tagger's laughter. "Gross…" he muttered. When they arrived at his vault, Griphook waved a clawed hand and Harry was once again dry.

"Please forgive me, sir," Griphook said, bowing low. "I hope the actions that took place won't make you think any lower on Gringotts bank. If you would like actions to be taken, we will be pleased to do as requested."

Harry laughed and shook his head. "No need to apologize, Griphook. She was just being friendly. No harm done."

Griphook looked relieved and proceeded to open the door. He instructed Harry to place his hand on the carving of a hand. Harry did so and watched as it glowed blue for a moment before the large doors opened. Harry openly gapped.

"There's so much" Harry whispered.

"Take as much time as you want, Mr. Potter," Griphook said. "I shall wait here."

Harry nodded and walked in. He passed large mounds of gold and silver and paused to look at an exceptionally large diamond. It was the size of his face! Harry took a shuddering breath. This was all so much. He was suddenly glad Griphook gave him that list. He could help create new buildings and gain alliances.

He saw several coats of armor and beautiful paintings that must have cost a fortune. He looked at the artist and was surprised to see some of them were made by Elizabeth Potter.

"I guess that's where you got your talent for art," Tagger said wonderingly.

Harry nodded. He stared at the paintings for a while and moved on. He saw a desk with many jewels littered all over it. He opened one of the desks and pulled out a note.

_To my heir,_

_Inside this desk is filled with the many jewels that I have found on my journey. Each has a magical property that even I am not aware of. They can be most helpful with weapons, bracelets, and necklaces, providing some protection. Also, it's a good way to get your wife to forgive you when you did something stupid. _

_There is nothing much to say about my life. I grew up England but moved to Africa to help the sick. It was then I discovered the many diamond and jewel mines that were untouched. The funds that are being made go to the already rich Potter's and many hospitals in Africa. When I got tired of the life in Africa, I moved around a bit, mostly in Australia and Antarctica. Two very different places but nice calming area's that still give you an excellent adventure._

_I bought a home in each place. The Potter's aren't known for buying large amounts of property. Often, we are belittled by other purebloods for not spending our money on things we deserve such as land, houses, furniture, anything expensive. Well, my heir, listen carefully, money means nothing if you do not use it wisely. Do not live a lazy life, living off your inheritance, get out into the world and get a job, make your own money, make your family proud. _

_I tell you this, because money means nothing when you have no one. If you find one that makes you happy, live for her/him, not for treasure. The real valuables out there are the ones you love. Sometimes, if it's to save someone, you must leave them. I understand how this feels because I had to leave my son and wife. Love your friends and family with all your heart, and you shall find a greater treasure. _

_Sebastian Potter_

_P.S. Ask the goblins for a list of the homes the Potter's own. I think there's only five. I suggest going to Egypt or my personal favorite, Australia._

Harry smiled as he read the letter. He put it back in the desk but opened no more. Sebastian Potter, Harry mused. He must have been a wonderful man.

Harry walked over to several piles of books and saw they had the history of the Potter's in them. Harry passed them. He would come back for them later. Nothing he saw was something he could take with him, since they were all valuable's that was against the rules and large armors as well as the paintings. Some swords caught Harry's eye but he would buy his own personal one. These looked too much for show.

One thing, however, did catch his eye. It was a necklace. The chain was slightly thicker than usual and was made of silver. The necklace itself was an emerald with silver wings on each side. It was very small, just a bit bigger than two peas put together. He saw a small note next to it.

_If you put this necklace on, the wings will either close around the emerald or open by how much you are feeling free. It has a charm on it that will only allow you to take it off, no one else. I was given this by a slave I helped get out of slavery. If there's one thing Potter's hate more than anything, it's slavery. House elves are useful, yes, but we at least pay them, unlike others. _

_The man I helped had no name, no family, nothing. But what he did have was his thanks. His own magic made this. It is filled with his heart. If you ever feel trapped, just remember that you can fight your way out of bondage as well. _

_Samuel Potter_

Harry stared at the manacles. He had loved his family in a sense that they were _his_ family, but never had he been as proud as he was now. He knew nothing about them and just from the few letters he had read made him see them in a new light. The Potters were awe aspiring. Harry picked up the necklace and made his way over to Griphook.

"Griphook, Harry said slowly, pleased that his voice wasn't cracked. "I know the rules say I can't take out any money or jewels, but I can please take out this necklace?"

Griphook peered at the necklace. "The rules clearly instruct no jewels, Mr. Potter."

Harry thought quickly. "But what about family rings? I'm allowed to take those out even though they have gold or a ruby on them."

Griphook smiled, pleased that Harry noticed that. "It seems you have found a loophole, Mr. Potter. As long as you don't sell it for profit until you are seventeen, it is fine."

Harry smiled. "I won't sell it," he promised. He put it on and saw one wing close all the way but the right wing stayed up. "I'll get both wings up," he vowed.

The next trip didn't take so long since it was only twenty-one vaults away. Vault 13 had two large doors that had a stag, grim, werewolf, and rat engraved into it. At the bottom, Harry read saw the words, 'Marauders forever.' Harry smiled and the only reason he didn't lose his temper at the sight of the rat was that he had to remember that this was made when they were all still friends; no traitors had been formed yet.

Harry entered the vault and stared at the gold. He ignored it, getting a little used to the large amount. Instead, he saw another desk. A single note rested on it with a pocket watch with the number 13 on it. Harry stared at the pocket watch and opened it. It was silver with black lining.

It was just a normal watch that told time. Harry pocketed it read the note.

_Dear Harry,_

_This is your old man speaking! The Marauders, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and I, made this vault to put the interest we received from the businesses we invested in. You may take as much money as you want. Before you do that, I am sure a goblin has told you to get in contact with several business owners. I urge you to do that first. You can skip the firewhiskey butI definitely urge you to get in contact with the werewolves._

_The Ministry owns 49 of it and some random werewolf owns two percent. Whoever is on that werewolf's side has complete control. But never mind that! I know that if you are reading this, then I am dead. I hope you have lived a full life with Sirius and enjoy the many pranks I am sure he has taught you. _

_Inside this desk is a list in full details how to perform pranks. If you ever see a certain Snivellus around, get him hard. There are also three Marauder maps. Peter lost his fourth year. The watch is a little something I had made to commemorate the making of this vault. When my dad found out I wasted a large amount of money on several bad investments (in his eyes) and got Vault 13, he almost disowned me but thankfully he had a heart attack. _

Harry stared, wondering why his father sounded pleased but understood as he read the next part.

_Despite the fact that we loved each other more than anything, we never had the same views on certain things. Enough of that, my son. I want you to take this desk with you to school and learn from it. Don't worry, Mooney made sure there's more than pranks. Just say shrink, and it'll fit in your pocket. Say enlarge, and it'll return to normal. Easy, right?_

_Just remember that your mother and I love you very much. Live life to the fullest and have lots of laughs and a few loves. Don't forget we'll always be there for you. I love you._

_James Potter_

Harry had tears coming out of his eyes. He wiped his nose on his sleeve and put the letter in the drawer. "Shrink," he said aloud and saw it shrink down to the size f a bouncy ball. He pocketed it carefully and followed Griphook onto the cart.

"Griphook, do you know a way I can leave the bank without going through the front? There are some people that I don't want following me."

Griphook nodded. "I would be more than pleased to show you out the back."

Harry smiled in gratitude. The cart ride was quick and they ran into no similar problems as before. The back was full of goblins carting gold or silver. A few stared but said nothing. Griphook showed Harry the door but he took Griphook's hand and shook it firmly.

"Thanks for everything, Griphook," Harry said. "You've been the best help. Do you think you could owl me the people I should get in contact with and the different homes I own?" Harry let go of the stunned goblins hand and walked out the door, throwing a wave and said, "See you next time!"

Griphook could only stare at the door in shock before he jumped as a sharp voice said, "Griphook!"

He turned around and saw the manager. "Yes, Sharptooth?"

"I would like to see you in my office," Sharptooth said, his eyes narrowed.

"Yes sir. May I ask what for?"

Sharptooth suddenly smiled and patted his employee on the back. "For your promotion of course! You've been doing some good work around here."

Griphook followed wide eyed and was thanking Harry Potter in every language he knew.

Outside, Harry watched as Tagger did a few flips in the air. "It's so amazing!' he said loudly. "Your family seemed really nice and the best part is that only half an hour passed."

Harry opened his new pocket watch and saw that it was indeed only 9:30. "Now, how to find Mushu?" he said.

"Didn't I tell you not to look for me?" a happy voice said behind him. Harry turned and saw the red dragon.

"Mushu!" Harry exclaimed. "It's good to see you again."

Mushu smiled and played with his long mustache that was dangling. "Good to see you too, kid. What happened to your hair?" Harry laughed and just pulled a little at his hair. Mushu started to float in the air. "Now follow me! Ash and Kaz are excited to see you and the others are very interested in meeting you."

Harry smiled brightly and followed Mushu, unaware of the wing on his necklace opening just a little bit.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Yay! Done with another! I know this one isn't as long as the others but I didn't want to mix the Gringotts visit with Diagon/Knockturn Alley. Don't worry, next one will be good. And now, some questions to help with reviews.

1.What books should Harry buy? (Names, quality, amount, ect.)

2. What type of weapons? (I have some planned already but want to know your opinions.)

3. Who should Harry get in contact with first? (Business wise)

4. Any new pet recommendations? (I'm turning him into a mini Hagrid!)

5. Should Harry drop a few classes? (If yes, don't say potions.)

6. What color streaks should Harry get? Purple, blue, red, or green?

There you go. I do have it planned out but I love hearing other people's ideas. I know making Harry rich is a little cliché, but he kind of needs to be in order to get the right supplies and get into the business world. Also, all purebloods are freakin rich. I only made him a millionaire. Notice how I didn't give him some ungodly amount? I've seen some where he could buy the world and practically owns the wizarding world and Hogwarts itself.

Sheesh. I tried to make it a bit more realistic. I'm not sure how much galleons are worth but I'll say they're probably worth (in my mind) 5 to 7 dollars. I look forward to more reviews!

Oh! And one important thing! Dumbledore will NOT be manipulating. Harry is just more independent and doesn't want to do things by Dumbledore's standards. Harry is growing more mature but is still ignorant of the wizarding world. He is learning and that will be his key to success.


	8. shopping

Hello! Here is the next chapter. I wanted to answer a few people's questions but I don't know if fanfiction allows that anymore. First, I take all reviews and flames seriously. Reviews, because they make me happy and give tips. Flames, because they really make me think and help me change something to stop the story from going down hill.

Yea, yea, I can understand people have complaints about the new characters, but I really need to point something out to you. In the HP books, there are magical creatures. Why can't I write about them? This whole story is about making new friends and ending prejudice. My story would have no point if he didn't make a few friends from different species.

They will not be in love or hero worshipping to Harry. I don't know why people thought that, especially with the scene when Ash told her friends. They're giving him a chance because they themselves have been hurt and are not willing to sink as low as the people who hurt them. Please remember that.

I'm not saying this to yell at those who said stuff like this; I am just explaining it to you. I hope this clears up a few things. Also, about the grammar, I'm sorry if it's bad, but I don't have a beta. Well, on to the story.

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

Harry followed Mushu silently. If anyone was shocked that there was a small dragon flying around, they didn't show it. Then again, the folks in Knockturn Alley must have seen a lot. Harry had already passed by a few shops that didn't look all that dangerous.

Mushu explained that Knockturn Alley was one of the poorer Alley's. That still didn't make it any less dangerous at night, but during the day it was free reign. A few stores caught Harry's eye and he wanted to make sure he entered a few before heading back to the Leaky Cauldron later.

"Well," Mushu said happily, "this is it!"

They stopped outside of a small shop that read "Muggle and Wizard Items."

"Muggle and Wizard Items?" Harry asked.

Mushu nodded. "Got to make a living, don't ya?"

Harry nodded and entered the store after Mushu. A young boy with purple hair and purple eyes looked up from behind a counter as he saw Mushu enter. "Hey, Mushu, this him?"

"Of course it's him," Mushu replied. "What, you think I'd choose the wrong guy?"

"Well," the boy had a large grin on his face, "it wouldn't be the first time."

Mushu slapped his forehead. "I do it one time and you guy's just can't let it go."

"Nope," the boy said with a chuckle. He turned to Harry. "So I suppose you're the guy that helped my friend Ash?"

Harry rubbed his head in embarrassment. "Well, she helped me out more than I helped her."

The boy grinned. "Yea, she's always a sucker when it comes to guys. I'm Jay by the way." He extended his hand.

Harry took it right away. "And I'm Harry."

Jay released his hand and said, "You don't mind if I change before taking you to the back, do you?"

"Um," Harry said, not understanding. Jay just grinned and transformed into his real form. Harry blinked as a fast purple blur covered Jay before he turned into some type of bug dragon.

"Much better," Jay said. "Gotta keep appearances when running the shop." Harry just nodded. He knew Ash's friends were demons but seeing them was much different than being told about them.

There was only one word that could describe it to Harry: Cool.

Jay led a curious Harry and a loud Mushu into the back. "Yo, Ash! Get your ass down here!"

There was a resounding smash from somewhere in the second story. Harry looked around, amazed at the sight. It was a large garage that had several cars on lifts, paint cans everywhere, and tools littering the floor. The walls were painted with different designs as well. The thing that hit Harry the most was the loud music. A few were from muggle bands that Harry knew about.

"Stray!" Ash called cheerfully; practically jumping on him. She wrapped an arm around his neck and dragged him over to the others. Five other people, Jay included, walked over to them. "This is Harry, guys."

Harry managed to get Ash's arm off of him and nodded politely at the others. They nodded as well. A few uncomfortable seconds went by before voices broke out. It was really Kaz who broke the silence; flying straight at his face and making him sneeze from her powder. Harry was grateful that she was worried about him but was even more grateful that it broke the tense silence.

Questions were asked by almost everyone. The only one that really stayed quiet was the female dragon, Switch. The others just informed him that she was usually quiet and always had a scowl on her face. The questions broke most of the tension but Harry wasn't sure what to make of the others.

They were kind, but still wary around him. Harry wondered if it was because human and demon relationships weren't going good. To break the ice, Harry said, "So how did you all get into cars and make this garage?"

This caused large smiles to appear on Jack, a large alligator demon, and Jay. Somehow, asking that question seemed to make everyone a bit warmer.

"See, it all started like this," Jack said, many teeth sparkling as he smiled. "We're all orphans, either because of some death or being kicked out. I was kicked out myself but that doesn't really matter. See, we all met in random places around the U.K. Since then, we all realized we had an interest in muggle vehicles. And what better way to make money and do the thing you like than opening up a garage?"

"That sounds interesting," Harry said. "It must have been some life, traveling around and meeting new people."

Ash nodded and Hop, the Kangaroo mouse that had a kind smile, said, "Interesting but hard. We had a lot of fun, but finding a place to live was always the hardest part. It was when we entered Knockturn Alley did they let us keep this old place."

Ash took over the story. "This place had to be the crappiest of all places in the world. Bugs, infestations of all kinds, dirt, and whatever else you could think of resided in here. Took months to clean the place. Of course, by then, we had enough money from doing random little jobs to start paying rent and buying tools."

Gadget, who had been quiet for most of the conversation, said, "And of course that's when things went down hill." He shot a glare at Jay and Ash who looked very guilty. "Those two," he jerked at Ash and Jay, "bought as many expensive tools as they could. Cost a small fortune and we were overrun with taxes."

Harry covered his moth to hide a smile. "So I guess things turned out alright, seeing how you still have the store."

Hop bounced on the balls of her feet. "Being indebted to quite a few people is something I never want to go through again."

Ash just smiled innocently. "Aw, it's all in the past, guys. Nothing like that will ever happen again."

"It better not," a voice growled.

Harry jumped, forgetting all about Switch. In the small time he had talked with the others, they had all warmed up and Harry could start to understand them a bit. But Switch, who had been silent and glared at them all, was still a mystery.

Mushu was also on her shoulder. He was playing with his long mustache and seemed used to her behavior. Harry guessed that she was the one Mushu looked after.

Switch stared at them all, an impatient expression on her face. "Gadget," she said, addressing the oldest, "when does your shipment come in?"

Gadget checked his watch. "In an hour," he told her. "You also needed to get some stuff, right?"

Switch nodded. Her eyes narrowed and she turned to Ash. "You're coming too, to help carry the stuff."

Ash pouted and stuck her tongue out at her. "Aw, no fun. Jack, you're coming too." She turned to Harry. "Wanna come along, Stray? We have a few places to go to, and you came to come shopping, right?"

Harry nodded. "Yea, but I don't want to be a bother…"

"No bother!" Jack exclaimed brightly. "We need another with us, especially with Switch in charge." Jack leaned closer and whispered, "She's pure evil."

Harry chuckled quietly and noticed Switch's amused expression before turning into a frown again. "You want to see evil?" Harry whispered. "My potions professor could give her scowl a run for her money."

Jack laughed as well. He scratched his belly with a large hand and got up. "I'll be ready in a sec," he told the others. "I need a drink first."

The others slowly dispersed, going back to whatever they were doing earlier. Jay went to work the shop with Hop while Gadget worked on the cars. Harry noticed Switch and Ash walk upstairs, talking quietly.

"Hey, hu…Harry," Gadget called. Harry looked over, well aware of what he was going to say. "Come over here for a second."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"So what do you think?" Ash asked, grabbing some money while Switch did the same.

Switch snorted. "He's weak. I can smell his magic but it's worth nothing if he can't control it properly."

Ash shrugged. "Do you think he realizes he was set up to come shopping with us?"

"No," Switch said immediately. "He's a male, they're always dense."

Ash giggled. "So, Switch, are you curious?"

Switch threw her an annoyed look. "No."

"Liar," Ash sang. "You know, his hair grew."

Switch looked amused. "And how do you know that?"

Ash rolled her eyes. "When I met him, his hair wasn't even to his shoulders, now it reaches his back!"

"Whatever… Did you see his clothes?"

"Yea? What about them?"

"I want to burn them," Switch informed. "Even we had better clothes than that when we lived off the streets."

Ash shrugged. "We could take him to meet Andy."

Switch licked her lips in thought. "Sure, I needed to get a new shirt anyways."

Ash smiled brightly and walked down, Switch behind her. She looked around and noticed Harry working on a little thing as Gadget watched. They blinked in surprise as the thing Harry was working on gave a roar of life.

Gadget grabbed it quickly and held up to his face, trying to figure out how it was working. "How did you fix it?"

Harry shrugged. "Two wires weren't hooked in the right way. It was nothing big."

Switch snorted, alerting the two. "I thought you were the master mechanic?" she sneered.

Gadget groaned. "Don't start with me."

"Why not?' Switch challenged, her ears rising a bit.

Gadget grabbed a piece of paper off the work bench and flicked it around in front of her face. Switch, narrowing her eyes, grabbed the offending piece of paper. It was a picture of a skull with acid dripping around it. It was green with black shadows.

Impressed, Switch said, "You finally came up with a good picture for the bike?"

Gadget, who was a little embarrassed, hid it well and said, "No, Harry did."

Switch glanced at the drawing and an embarrassed looking Harry. She said nothing more.

"C'mon," Ash called, "let's get going."

Mushu flew off Switch's shoulder and landed next to Kaz. Both were going to stay. Harry stood up. "Er, do you mind if I change as well?"

"Huh?" Ash asked.

Switch rolled her eyes. "You said he could transform, remember?"

"Oh yea!"

Harry fidgeted as Jack, Ash and Switch watched him. He took off his shoes and glasses and concentrated and felt himself transform. He sighed as he noticed his ripped clothes.

Ash giggled. "You don't have the right clothes like we do. Don't worry; we'll take you to get some decent clothes."

Harry blushed. It wasn't his fault the Dursley's didn't give him some decent clothes. Not that he would tell them that, but he was eager to finally get some real clothes.

Switch came up to him, a serious look on her face. Harry stared back into her eyes. Her ear cocked, curious, before returning to normal. Her face resumed the usual scowl she always wore.

"You want to purchase several wizard things, right?"

"Yes."

"Then transform half way."

Harry blinked. "How come?"

Switch sighed. Harry couldn't blame her. He was pretty dense sometimes. "It's illegal to sell non-humans wizard things. At least halfway in Knockturn Alley, you can get stuff with both money and with a threatening look."

Harry was about to object but remembered that if he wanted some darker things, he couldn't play nice. He nodded before concentrating on what he wanted to look like. He imagined himself with only clawed feet, hands, and tail. He felt the prickling sensation and looked at the others.

Ash nodded. "It worked," she told him.

Switch peered at him. "Does anyone know what you look like?"

"A few people would know about my hair," he said truthfully, "but that's because it had a growth spurt or something. No one else knows what I look like transformed." Harry didn't need to say anything about Voldemort because there was no way he could be in Knockturn Alley without alerting someone.

Switch 'hmmed' before grabbing Harry's hair before taking a swipe at it with her claw.

"Hey!" Harry barked, taking a few steps back and glaring. "What was that for?"

"You don't want anyone following you and that won't be possible if you don't change your appearance," Switch growled.

Harry growled back as well. "You could have warned me."

Jack laughed a bit. "Switch never warns anyone. Sorry, Harry, but if you want a warning, you're at the wrong place."

Harry sighed and felt his hair. A large chunk was out and before he could say anything else, Switch grabbed some more hair. "Stay still," she ordered. "I won't ruin in it."

Harry still glared but nodded nonetheless. A few quick swipes had Harry's hair shorter than his shoulders. "Much better," Switch said approvingly.

Harry's brow twitched and a giggling Ash handed him a piece of glass. He looked at his reflection and couldn't help but grin. "Four different hairstyles in one day," he said amused. "I like this one."

His hair was back to being messy and out of control. It was probably only half an inch shorter than it originally was before all the haircuts but had more of a _feral_ look to it.

"It needs a bit more," Jack said thoughtfully.

"You're right!" Ash bounded up to him and said, "Concentrate your magic on my fingers."

"Err…" Before Harry could say more, she rubbed her hand through his hair. He felt that same prickling sensation and felt his hair. When he didn't feel anything, he grabbed the glass once more and stared. "Green streaks?" he questioned.

Ash shrugged. "Green fits you. Now you have an almost complete disguise."

"Almost?" Harry asked.

"Yep!" Ash said happily. "We need to go clothes shopping but I think we should get our supplies first, right?"

Harry nodded. "I'm ready to go."

"Not yet." Ash handed him a black bandana. "I got you a new one since the other one got ruined."

"You didn't have to."

Ash just shrugged and handed it over to him. Harry tied it around his forehead.

"Now we're ready to go," Jack said, following Switch.

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

Borgin and Burkes was a shop a shop with a reputation. If you wanted to shop in here, you needed not only money, but the brains. Borgin got all kinds in his shop and always made a good amount of gold. He especially loved werewolves and vampires as customers. They were always willing to pay any amount for some blood or wolfsbaine.

He had gotten almost every kind in his shop that had some level of intelligence but it came to a surprise when four demons entered his shop. Borgin only just managed to hide his greedy grin before the wolf saw him. Oh, he would be making some good money today.

Harry scoped the shop, looking for anything interesting. The look on Borgin's face didn't go unnoticed. The man thought they were loaded and planned on making some good deals. Well, if he wanted a deal, he would have to show Harry the best he had to offer.

Harry walked up to the man. "I'm looking for something a bit more…advance. You wouldn't happen to have anything like that, would you?" Harry was well aware of the secret storage room Borgin had.

Borgin smirked. "And what if I do? Most are very expensive and only go to those with a wand."

Harry allowed two fangs to poke through. It took almost half an hour for Switch and Ash to beat it in to him on how he should act. "My gold is as good as anyone else's. Also, I already have a wand. How it came into my possession is none of your concern."

"Well, well," Borgin rubbed his hands together, "already breaking the law, are we? No matter, demon, I know how your kind works." Harry noticed the others growl at this. "Come along to my storage room. Anyone else interested in purchasing some…advance books?"

Switch growled at the man, her eyes glowing. "We shall wait out here."

Borgin narrowed his eyes. "I have special wards that don't allow thieves to exit this shop."

"They won't steal, Borgin," Harry snarled. "Now show me to this room, or I'll take my business elsewhere."

Borgin opened a door behind the counter and beckoned Harry in after entering it himself. Following the man down, Harry wondered how many dark wizards had entered this room and bought items.

"Go ahead and look around," Borgin offered, his eyes following Harry's every move.

Harry just nodded and made his way towards some books. Trinkets lay everywhere, and large swords and knives were hung on the wall. He ignored them for now and grabbed a random book. He put it aside. It was written in some unknown language and Harry continued with the search.

In the next five minutes, he pick out, The Forbidden and Unforbidden, Dark Rituals, The Unforgivable's and The Theory Behind It, Magical Creatures and their Weaknesses, and several books on Occlumency. All kinds of Dark Hex and Curse books were added as well.

He put them in a small pile and continued to look around a bit. He wanted to take his time so he didn't miss anything important. His slow search rewarded him with two books each on dragons and demons. One book, however, almost had him laughing. It was called, 'Potions for Dummies.' He added the book and stared at the weapons.

Personally, he wasn't sure what he should get. Making his way over to the knives, he put the books on a random chair. He saw knives made out of solid gold, others with fire and even a few that had an invisible blade. Ignoring those, since Harry had no use for flashy weapons, he looked into a glass case.

He saw a small metal circle with points on the end. The sign called them shuriken and were ten for a total of twelve galleons. Harry purchased twenty and a small pouch to hold them on his waist. These would be much better than throwing knives, allowing him to throw more than one. He also purchased a book on how to use the weapons and hopefully, with practice, Harry would be able to aim with deadly accuracy.

Harry's eyes wandered over a curved dagger. It wasn't overly large, and would be easy to hide. He purchased it as well, along with a few smaller daggers. He didn't really see anything else, and Borgin, noticing that, said quickly, "I can show you a few other books as well. I have a potions book on poisons and even Veritaserum."

Harry's eyes widened at that but decided to play a few cards of his own. "Sounds interesting, but do you have ingredients that goes with this book?" What was the point of buying a potions book if you had no ingredients?

Borgin smiled greedily. "Of course, sir." He led Harry to another case. "I'm afraid you'll need more than just an ordinary cauldron for some potions. You'll have to buy cauldrons elsewhere since I don't have any. However, I do have some very interesting ingredients."

Harry barely managed to hide a gasp. Vampire and werewolf fangs in small bags lay in a case. Small vials of gryphon blood, unicorn blood and even phoenix blood glittered in the light. Harry saw the claws of dementor and shuddered to think how those had been acquired. A few other illegal items were in the case and Harry purchased most of them but left the dementor claws alone.

The phials with blood and crushed powder were put into a small box so they would break. Roots, fangs, and even small wings were put into a separate bag. That had taken a good half hour to sort out. Harry wanted to make sure he only bought things he needed.

"You'll have to pay down here," Borgin told him as he put a shrinking spell onto everything. "I can't have anyone else knowing about these items. Got it, demon?"

Harry narrowed his eyes but said nothing. Instead, he saw two other books that caught his eye. The first one was, 'You and Your Weapon.' It was about molding your magic and a personal item into a weapon that fitted you. The last one Harry nearly gasped.

He was pretty sure it was the one Dobby was talking about. 'Magic, Control and Elements.' Harry looked at the book closely. It was huge, and had a worn out look to it.

"I'll take those two as well," Harry said.

Borgin just grunted and added them as well. "Anything else that caught your eye?"

Harry thought about it. The man was greedy and was probably willing to sell him just about anything. He noticed the special bag Harry owned and knew only the richest carried those around. Harry thought about it a bit longer before he remembered what Malfoy had been looking at in his second year. Malfoy would probably be back to take it and Harry didn't want the spoiled brat to have anything that could harm him or his friends.

"I'll take that Hand of Glory you have upstairs as well," Harry said.

Borgin nodded. "I'll go grab it. You may continue to look some more. Anything else you see, add it to the stack. I'll know if you stole anything."

Harry snorted. "Demons have a sense of honor as well, Mr. Borgin. Everything will be paid for."

Borgin sneered but left. Harry scowled and looked for anything interesting. He grabbed a few holsters for his daggers and decided to buy one for his wand elsewhere. For books, he added 'The Making of Wands,' and a really long book on the 'Theory of Magic,' that would prove useful later on.

He looked around for anything that had to do with Apparation but was disappointed when he saw nothing on the subject. A few more books were added and even 'Pureblood Etiquette' was added. Harry thought he could use that for later to make Malfoy look like a fool. Finally, Harry added one last potion's book, 'Deadly Potion's with Basilisk Blood and Poison.' He bought ten vials that were made to hold basilisk poison.

Basilisk poison was very strong and Harry didn't want to know how many spells were put on those vials. He looked around again. Perhaps, in time, when he was alone and had no one waiting for him, he would come back later to look at more of the items.

Borgin came back down and stared at his extras and rang it up. Harry smirked as he stared at the last potions book, muttering about how Basilisks were extinct. Just because one was dead didn't mean all the poison was gone.

Borgin stared at the Potions for Dummies and said, "Can you even read this?"

Harry stared at it. "Yes, can't you?"

Borgin shook his head. "I've been trying to sell this thing for years but no one bought it since they can't read it. What's it say?"

"Potions for Dummies," Harry replied honestly.

Borgin's eyes widened. "That's what it is?" He looked very greedy all of a sudden. "Of course, I'm sure it's a very special book. Sixteen galleons."

Harry smirked. "For this piece of rubbish? Not even worth eight galleons."

"Thirteen galleons."

Harry snorted. "Ten galleons. Don't forget about all my other purchases."

Borgin muttered something and said, "Fine, ten galleons it is."

Harry smiled victoriously and paid the grand total. It was well over 3,000 galleons and 200 sickles. Grabbing the bags, Harry made his way to the exit, following Borgin. He saw Switch and Ash waiting for him.

"Got everything?" Ash asked.

"Yep," Harry said cheerfully. "Where's Jack?"

Switch, who had been resting against the wall, said, "He went to go get a few things for his room."

They walked out of the store and Harry, who just realized that Hedwig was still at the Garage, said, "Mushu said something about Hedwig getting hurt. She's ok, right?"

Ash nodded. "Some crazy wanker attacked her with a few spells. Her wing was damaged so we put her in our medic room. Her wing is fine, thanks to Hop, and we managed to beat up the guy pretty good."

"Do you know who hurt her?" Harry asked, his hands forming into a fist.

"Sorry, Stray," Ash said. "He got out of there pretty fast."

Harry narrowed his eyes. How dare someone hurt Hedwig?! "She's alright, right? I mean, can she fly?"

"Yep," Ash replied cheerfully. "You can go get her when you come back to the garage."

Harry nodded and was about to say something before Jack walked up to them. "Hey, Switch, how much time do we have left before we need to go pick up Gadget's shipment?"

Switch checked her own watch. "No time," she said coldly. "You can say hi to your girlfriend later."

Jack grumbled. "She's not my girlfriend…"

Ash threw an arm around the large alligator. "That's so cute. You still haven't managed to work up the courage to ask her out yet."

"It's not like that!" Jack yelled.

Harry laughed and Switch ignored them all as she led them farther down the Alley. They stopped in front of a solid wall with a single door on it.

"Right," Switch said, turning to look at them. "This store leads into a muggle clothing shop called Hot Topic. It's run by demons and a few humans. Just don't let the humans know what we are, and you'll be fine." She turned to address Harry and said, "You and Ash can hang out in here while Jack and I get Gadget's shipment next door."

Harry tilted his head. "Will we be in muggle London?"

Ash nodded. "Yep, Gadget ordered several packages of muggle cough medicine." When Harry lifted a brow, she continued. "There's a chemical in it that Gadget fiddles with and uses it to give our own vehicles more power."

Harry snorted, thinking about Mr. Weasely.

They entered through the back and a female cat demon came up to them. "Hey Ash," she greeted happily. She had black ears and a tail that was dyed pink at the tips. She smiled brightly at Ash but turned to look at Harry. "Oooh, who's your cute friend?"

Harry blushed. "I'm Harry."

She flicked her tail back and forth, moving closer to Harry who moved closer to Switch. "My name is Lisa, but you can call me Liz."

Harry nodded. "Nice to meet you."

She beamed before her nose suddenly twitched. "Uhg, that drunk, Nick, is back."

Switch frowned. "Didn't you fire him?"

Liz shook her head. "Andy kept him."

Jack scowled. "Even after he… you know…"

Harry, who had no idea what they were talking about, looked at some of the clothes in the back. They were…interesting. Most were black but had a few dark reds and greens. There were several bracelets and chains but before he could get a closer look, Jack brought him out of his thoughts.

"Well, Switch and I need to go pick up Gadget's shipment. Ash and Harry want to buy a few clothes." They looked Harry up and down and Harry scowled darkly at them.

Jack and Switch blurred suddenly and two humans stood in their place. Harry already knew demons could camouflage themselves so humans wouldn't notice and even though he had seen Jay do it, it still amazed him

Jack was tall with green hair running everywhere. He was wearing the same clothes and with the lack of scales he didn't look much different.

Switch still had the same clothes on and she had a scowl in place. Her hair was spiked up in the back and she had several earrings along with bracelets. "We'll be back," she said calmly, leaving them.

When both Jack and Switch were gone, Ash turned to Harry. She smirked. "Is that a blush, Stray?" Harry turned his face away as he felt it heat up. "It is!" Ash crowed.

Harry groaned as Liz and Ash tried to get a look at his face. "Enough of that," Ash said happily. "Let's get you a whole new wardrobe."

Before Harry could say anything, both girls grabbed him and put him on a small stool and started measuring him while grabbing different shirts.

Tagger watched this all, laughing as Harry was bombarded with different shirts and pants. "They're gonna drown you with clothes if they don't watch it," Tagger said, grin on place.

Harry, who had wanted to get new clothes, still wasn't ready for this. When Liz started suggesting chains and piercings, Harry quickly cut in. "No way! No piercings for me, and I don't want any chains on my clothes."

The girls pouted. "You'll have to turn human first," Liz informed him. When any horns or tails burst through the material, it will close around making it the right size. Everytime you want to go back to your normal form, you won't even get any rips, and they'll just automatically form into it."

Harry nodded. "Thanks, Liz." He entered the dressing room and started to try on different clothes. The girls were considerate enough to give him normal clothes like blue jeans and red or blue shirts. Harry must have tried on twenty different pairs of pants, twelve shirts, fourteen long sleeve shirts, three jackets, and five pairs of shoes.

Ash giggled as Harry stepped out of the room. A little bit in the way, Harry started joking around as well and tried on some crazy stuff that he would have never worn before. Harry was pretty sure if the Dursley's took one look at him, they would have thrown him out of the house as fast as possible. Well, if he still lived with them.

Harry was now dressed in black pants with a black shirt and a red undershirt. The shirt said 'rebel' on it in white. He had a pair of black boots on as well. He grinned at the girls as they tried to get all kinds of necklaces and earrings on him but he just shrugged them off.

"Wow, Harry," Liz said, grabbing his hand. "This is a weird bracelet." She was staring at the manacle and Harry jerked it away from her.

"Yea," Harry said a little coldly, "it kinda sticks to me."

Ash stared at him and he knew what she was thinking. 'You got another one!? I leave you for five minutes and you get caught?'

Liz just shrugged and started packaging a few clothes for him. They, meaning Ash and Liz, decided Harry would get three black pants, four blue pants, ten shirts, three pairs of shoes, two pairs of boots and a black trench coat.

Harry wasn't too enthusiastic about the trench coat but when Ash said it would be easy to hide his weapons in, he agreed. They even managed to grab two goggles. One was blue while the other was green. Both had forced it onto his forehead and Harry half heartedly fought back.

He didn't know what to think but the girls forced him to buy it. After remembering he had wanted some goggles in the first place, he purchased them without a second thought. The good thing about them was that they allowed him to see clearly while the outside was just blue or green.

Harry started fiddling with his necklace when Ash came up to. She peered at the emerald. "That's a pretty necklace. Does it mean anything?"

Harry shrugged. "I found it in my family vault today." He smiled bitterly. "I just know it was from Samuel Potter but I don't know what he is to me. Great uncle, grandfather… who knows? I don't know. I didn't even know I had a family vault until today."

Ash stared at him quietly. "You really didn't know anything about the wizarding world, did you?"

Harry shook his head. "Not a thing," he said truthfully. "My Aunt and Uncle knew but they, err, tried to beat the freakishness out of me."

Ash folded her ears against her head in anger.

Harry yawned, letting the necklace fall out of his hand and stared at the manacle. "Either way, I'm a prisoner in both worlds."

Ash and Liz just stared at him. Liz, who was half human herself, didn't care if Harry was human. In fact, she found the situation funny.

"Well," Ash said seriously, "forget those two worlds." She stuck her hand out like down in the sewers. "Welcome to the demon world, Harry Potter."

Harry stuck out his hand and shook hers.

"Hrrry Pottter," a slurred voice said. They all turned and saw a bull dog demon enter.

"Dammit, Nick," Liz hissed. "You're drunk again, and this is your shift."

Nick ignored her and stared at Harry, his stance wobbly and his eyes loosing their focus. "E's just a damn huuumannn." Nick walked over slowly. "Shoulda coulda died like the rest. Stoopid huuumman."

Harry glared at the drunk. "What do you want?" he growled.

Nick shook his head, almost falling over. "I hate humans!" he roared, tackling Harry to the ground. Harry, who wasn't expecting that, fell to the ground with an undignified grunt. Nick started strangling him.

"Get off of him!" Ash and Liz tried pulling him off but Nick was very heavy. Harry clawed at the arms. Quickly transforming, he hissed at Nick before letting his long tongue hit Nick in the eyes.

"Uhg." Nick rubbed at his eyes and Harry kicked his off. He stood up quickly and spread his wings, snarling at Nick. He noticed Tagger growling as well. Instinct was kicking in and instinct was telling Harry to survive, no matter what the cost.

They circled each other and Nick seemed to be a little less drunk. They growled at each other and Ash and Liz back off.

"Stuupod huuuman," Nick said slowly. His grammar was still as horrible as ever.

"Fool," Harry growled.

Nick burped and Harry scrunched up his face as the awful smell entered his nostrils. "Disgusting fool," Harry corrected himself.

Nick barked loudly and rushed at Harry. Harry just side stepped the angry demon. "Stoooop moovin."

"Stop making a fool of yourself." Harry sighed. "This is why I can't stand prejudice; it makes people do stupid things."

Nick shook his head and saw Liz and grabbed her. "Stoopid huuuman luver." He started to squeeze her and both Ash and Harry jumped on him.

"Release her!" Harry yelled and dug his claws into Nicks head. "Don't hurt my friends!" Harry tried to scratch and bite but the thing about a bull dog is that they had a lot of fat that protected them. Harry growled angrily. He shuddered as he felt his magic start to respond.

His eyes widened as he felt it prickling up his arms. "No! Nick, let go! I don't want it to hurt you!"

Ash, who didn't like the tone of Harry's voice, let go, and Liz just managed to get out of Nick's hold as he screamed in pain. Harry watched in horror as Nick lit up like a light bulb and screamed as electricity ran throughout his body. It lasted a full minute before it stopped and Harry could only watch as Nick slumped to the ground.

They were silent for a few moments but the whole time Harry kept thinking, _"Stop, stop, stop, no more danger. Stop, stop…"_

"Is he…dead?" Liz asked, looking closer while massaging her neck.

Harry took one look at her neck and crushed all the guilt he was feeling. Nick hurt his friend, and he deserved it. Besides, if Harry couldn't handle this, how could he face Voldemort and the Death Eaters?

Harry sighed. "No," he said finally, "just knocked out."

"Yea, but I don't think he'll be moving anytime soon," Ash said with disgust. She sighed and threw some plastic bags over Nick to cover him up.

Liz sighed as well. "We are so lucky silencing charms were added after that night playing truth or dare."

Ash smiled. "Oh yea…"

Harry snorted. He gave Nick one last look before heading over to his packages. Liz and Ash gave him some room. Harry grabbed his new dagger and slipped it in his boot, ready to be pulled out at any time. He longed to try that new book on making your own weapon but had to wait. The dagger would do for now. He was angry he hadn't put it on earlier. Also, the fact that he had his wand was still a good thought.

He sighed as he put the small desk from his father's vault and the paper's Griphook gave him in the bags.

"Um, Harry," Liz said uncertainly. "I'm really sorry about what just happened. You can have all the clothes for free and…" She started to say more but Harry cut her off.

"No need for that. I won't hold the whole store responsible for this idiot." He jerked his head at Nick who still twitched occasionally. "Although, I wouldn't mind looking at those inside pockets you were talking about."

Liz grinned at that and proceeded to show Harry all the different sizes and colors. They were square pieces of cloth with a zipper. Just press them against the clothing you want and it'll immediately sew itself on. Harry planned on putting these in his pants so he could put a potions vial or wand in case he was ever caught. They had anti-summoning charms on them so that was a bonus.

Harry got enough for all his pants and quite a few for his trench coat. Even he, who had no sense of fashion, had to admit it looked nice. It wasn't full of chains, metal duds or anything else; just a plain, black trench coat.

They amused themselves by burning Dudley's old clothes and watched the smoke hover over Nick. Their amusement didn't last that long.

Another five minutes passed in silence since they didn't have much to say and Harry just doodled with a spare pen and scrap of paper. Liz came up to him. "You draw?" she asked.

Harry shrugged. "Not really…"

"Do too!" Tagger called but Harry ignored him.

"Want a sketchbook?" Liz asked.

"Huh?"

Liz giggled and her tail twitched. "A sketchbook. I have like five extras and a thousand pencils. I help make designs for some shirts and often draw."

"Err, uh…hmm." Harry sighed and finally nodded.

Liz grinned. "Ash!" she yelled. "Go get two of my blank sketchbooks, about a dozen pencils and a pencil sharpener."

"Got it!" Ash yelled back and hurried to another part of the shop, stepping past Nick carefully. She came back a minute later and handed them to Harry. "Come up with any pictures like the one you did earlier and Gadget just make you his personal assistant when it comes to making logos for bikes or cars."

Harry shrugged, grinning. He tossed Liz five galleons and checked his watch. His pocket watch was chained to his pants, much to the insistence of the two girls. "Its 10:40, shouldn't the other two be back?"

As if spurred on by those words, Switch and Jack entered the room carrying a few boxes.

"Alright, you guys got it," Ash said brightly.

Jack grinned and noticed Nick. "What happened to him?"

Harry just grinned and exchanged looks with Ash and Liz. "Nothin'…" they answered.

Ash smiled at Switch but stopped when she saw her expression. "Switch, what's wrong?"

Switch had lost her scowl and was instead looking a bit pale. "Crystal's back."

Ash's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?" Switch nodded. Ash swore. "Well, what does she want?"

Switch shrugged. "I need to meet her at that college down the road. She teaches there."

"Figure's," Ash muttered. "Nothing like last time, right?"

Switch returned her scowl. "No. It's about…" She suddenly remembered Harry and Jack were there. "You two wanna come over to a college real quick?"

Jack shrugged. Harry, who heard the whole exchanged, nodded but said, "Switch, are you ok? Is this Crystal person a threat to you?"

Switch stood up straight, looking offended. "No one is a threat to me," she growled.

Harry shot her a look but stood up to follow her. They left all their stuff in the store and stayed in human form. Harry, who was already in human form, didn't have to change back, but Ash was having trouble deciding if she should wrap her tail around her waist like a belt or just get rid of it altogether.

The college, Harry found out, was a good ten minutes away if you ran. Harry was breathless by the time they even reached the school and was a little annoyed that he was so out of shape. That would have to be fixed.

The college was called Luxford University, and, according to Jack, was an Art school for all kinds. Whether it is music, painting, auto, poetic, or anything of the sort, all were taught at the large school. They entered it quietly and Harry followed Jack as he motioned to him.

They passed by several classrooms teaching the violin or painting. Harry stared at them all in awe. His fingers longed to touch the paint brushes or the colored pencils and just sit there and be normal. He didn't want to worry about a war. He sighed and knew it could never be true. He was to be a part of this war. He promised this to himself and he couldn't back out.

Switch sighed and stopped. "Ok, you guys can stay here or look around. I'll be back in a few minutes." She entered a classroom and shut it.

Harry looked at Ash. "Is she going to be ok?"

Ash nodded. "Just some issues with… an old friend."

Harry didn't buy it but said nothing as Jack and Ash walked off, looking around. Harry sighed and started walking as well. A loud bell rang throughout the school and a large mass of kids came out, pushing against Harry. Harry, who tried to fight the crowd, was pushed into a classroom.

Harry looked around and blushed as several people stared at him. They were probably in their twenties and Harry's short height made him look younger than he really was. He was in an art classroom and saw students take out portraits or drawings.

"Are you lost, kid?" a girl asked him. Harry looked at the speaker and noticed she was at least nineteen and had long blond hair and brown eyes.

Harry shook his head and grinned shyly. "No, I was just checking out the college. I was thinking about coming here after high school."

The girl grinned. "Well, this is the summer program so you're welcome to take a seat and try painting or something. The teacher," she pointed to a young woman with red hair and icy blue eyes, "is that woman over there."

As if hearing those words, the teacher came over. "Is there a problem?" she asked.

Harry shook his head. "No, ma'am. I was just looking around the college and kind of got pushed into the classroom with all the other students."

"Well, like Jennifer said, this is the summer program so you can take a seat. You're awfully young to be looking at colleges."

Harry scowled and tried to make himself look bigger. "I'm fifteen."

The woman smiled but it looked like her eyes were made of ice. "Well, go ahead and sit. Maybe in a few years you could come."

Harry nodded and blushed a bit when Jennifer led him over to a spare spot next to her. He really wanted to get out of there but didn't want to drag anymore attention to himself. Sighing, he grabbed a blank piece of paper and a pencil. Shrugging, he started to draw. After all, wasn't he going to start, especially since Liz gave him those sketchbooks?

Ten minutes passed by before Harry started to wonder if the others were ok. He was enjoying himself, but he didn't want the others to think he ditched them. Jennifer looked over at his drawing.

"That's really cool," she told him. "I wish I could do realistic drawings like that."

Harry glanced at his drawing. It was a picture of Hedwig, Errol, and a few other owls sitting on his bed with an annoyed look. They were watching Pig fly around. It wasn't the best looking drawing, but a few parts were detailed.

Harry blushed, happy that someone liked his drawing. Tagger was sitting on is shoulder, whispering words of encouragement in his ear. "Thanks," he muttered.

Jennifer looked into his eyes and smirked. "Interesting contacts."

Harry blinked. Contacts? His eyes widened. _"Shoot, I forgot my eyes were still slits. At least she's a muggle. I'll have to fix them later."_

Harry grinned and was about to say something but the door burst open and Switch walked in. Her eyes narrowed at the teacher but when she noticed Harry, she paled slightly. The teacher smiled at her. "Hello--"

"Crystal," Switch said, interrupting her.

Harry's eyes widened. This was who Switch wanted to talk to? He had been in the same room with Crystal the entire time! Harry watched as Crystal told the class to keep working and exited the room, Switch following her and not once glancing at Harry.

"Do you know that girl?" Jennifer whispered.

Harry nodded. "Yea, she's a friend of mine. I don't know what she wants with the teacher, though."

Jennifer shrugged and started working again. She glanced at Harry after a few moments. "You know, I have a few pamphlets about the school. You can have them if you ever decide to come here for college."

Harry grinned shyly. "Really? I'd like to look at them."

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

"What were you doing with him?" Switch growled as she and crystal entered an empty classroom. She transformed back to normal.

Crystal grinned coldly and transformed as well. A long, pale blue dragon stood in crystal's place. She breathed out a little bit and ice came out of her mouth, falling to the ground like snow.

"I was just watching him." Crystal stared at the angry Switch. "But what are _you_ doing with him?"

Switch glared. "He helped Ash and came to the garage for a visit. We had stuff to get and he tagged along."

Crystal laughed coldly. "Is that all?"

"Yes, Crystal," Switch said just as coldly, "that's all."

Crystal waved a long, furry tail. Instead of scales at the end, she had dark blue fur. "Have you heard back from the clan?"

"You know I have no contact with them!" Switch growled, stepping back.

Crystal snorted. "You always were a fool, little sister." Switch bared her teeth. "You're entering human affairs."

"That pathetic Lord is spreading to the demons as well," Switch said boldly. She blinked before sighing. "He has the Buta Clan under his control."

Crystal met Switch's eyes in shock. "How do you know of this?" she said harshly.

Switch shrugged. "I'm not as out of contact as you think."

They glared at each other for a moment.

"This isn't why I came," Crystal said softly.

"How long have you been in town?"

Crystal shrugged this time. "Five months." She smiled. "You never were good when it came to tracking or knowing when you were being watched."

Switch scowled. "Yea, well, what do you want?"

Crystal yawned. "This is so troublesome, but I saw something."

"You saw something?" Switch repeated, deadpan.

"You know what I mean," Crystal growled angrily.

"Damn you and your seer abilities," Switch snarled. "I'm not doing anything this time." She paced for a few minutes. "Not like last time."

"That was a mistake."

"They kicked me out!" Switch roared. She panted for a minute, her ears folded tightly against her head. "You knew the truth, but you let them…"

"I know," Crystal said firmly. "This is big, I need to tell you."

"Who does it involve this time?" Switch grounded out, her teeth rubbing against each other.

"That human."

Switch snorted before her eyes widened in recognition. "You were the one who told Ash about that stupid river of wine legend."

"Yes," said Crystal.

"You knew they would meet." Crystal nodded. "So…what's this vision?"

Crystal shrugged. "One death, one life."

Switch groaned. "It's always like that."

"Unfortunately," Crystal muttered. "Look, we both hate the clan, but it also has to do with them."

"How so?" snapped Switch.

"I saw Stoneclaw in the vision as well."

"Stoneclaw is a cast out as well!"

"Not in the vision!"

They glared at each other, sister rivalries exceeding into more than just dislike.

"Just tell me the damn vision."

This time Crystal's face softened. "He will paint them."

"The human?" Switch questioned.

"Yes," Crystal nodded, "Harry."

Switch scowled. "He a big deal then?"

"You know he has a big part in this war," Crystal said, a hard steel entering her voice. "That is why you are helping him. That is also why you know certain demon clans are bowing to the man called Voldemort."

Switch snorted.

"He's stronger than you realize," Crystal barked. "Demons and humans are practically balanced! Stop being a hypocrite already. You yourself say you hate those who are prejudice, but are prejudice yourself!"

Switch looked away.

"Why are you back?" she asked at last. "For real?"

"Can't I see my baby sister?" Crystal said in a false cheery voice. Switch scowled. "Because," she said slowly, "you and Harry were in the vision. You were both in Japan, fighting a war with the clan."

Switch kicked a chair. "We're done here," she said.

"I'll be here when you decide to talk," Crystal said.

Switch ripped open the door after they both transformed into humans.

"Hey!" Crystal called and Switch paused. "Remember, stop being a hypocrite."

Switch sighed but said nothing more. She walked past several hallway's and saw Ash and Jack standing next to the human.

"Switch," Harry called as he saw her. "Are you ok? That girl didn't say anything that hurt you, right?"

Switch said nothing. Why did this human care? They barely knew each other. Hell, they only knew each other for an hour and all she did was scowl or glare. She stared at him.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Harry pressed, his eyes full of concern.

Switch snorted. Figures she would make friends with a human of all things. A human…

"I'm fine," she said at last. "Let's go."

The human still looked at her with worried eyes but smiled brightly at her. She followed the hu…Harry out. Yep, figures she would make friends with the strangest people. She sighed, thinking of her stupid sister. Damn seers.

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

They had walked around a bit when Switch mentioned Harry should get a tattoo. Of course, Harry objected right away but when Switch started going into full detail, Harry thought they might help. They wouldn't be going to any tattoo parlor, but a magical one. It was one that Switch herself went to get a tattoo of her spirit animal. She explained they helped protected him and even gave him the sense of piece.

"They can even get rid of other unwanted tattoos," Switch had said to him.

Harry seriously thought about it before deciding to try it. It was his skin, after all, and if they could help him, since they had a few magical properties, he was willing to get them.

They were back in Knockturn Alley when they entered a small shop with graffiti and all kinds of pictures of all types of tattoos on the walls. Switch whistled and a large, muscular man came out.

"Back again?" he growled to Switch.

Switch shook her head. "Harry will be getting the special."

The man narrowed his eyes at Harry. "I know you three got in contact with yur inner animal, but this guy? I'm not so sure."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "I'm in contact with him," Harry growled back. "Switch explained the consequences and I'm willing to take them."

The man grunted and instructed Harry to take off his shirt. Harry did so, along with his necklace, and laid it aside. The large man, Greg, started to pour an oily substance on his back. "Most tattoos like these show up on your back," he said gruffly. "Go ahead and relax. The liquid will allow a form to appear and then my special ink will take over."

Harry was lying down on his stomach and just nodded an affirmative. Forty minutes went by but Harry barely noticed it. In fact, he almost fell asleep. The ink being carved into his skin didn't hurt as much as he expected and the only reason he didn't go past a small doze was because he didn't want to have another interaction with Voldemort.

When Greg was done, he slapped Harry hard on the back to wake him up. Harry yelped and almost fell off the table. The others laughed and Greg helped him up. "There were some…problems," he said lamely.

Harry stared at him. "What kind of problems?"

Greg scratched his head in confusion. "I don't know how it happened, but you ended up having three tattoos."

"Three!?"

"Don't worry; they're small, only as big as an inch."

Harry grumbled and made his way over to a large mirror so that he could see them. He saw a dragon tattoo that resembled Tagger. Harry grinned as he watched it do back flips before grinning itself. Harry smiled as he saw Tagger's real color. He was black and green, just like in Harry's transformation.

The real Tagger grinned and did his own back flips.

"That one right there," Greg grumbled, pointing to Tagger, "gave me some real trouble. That's why it took so long. He wouldn't stop moving." Greg stared at in confusion. "Never had a tattoo that came to life that fast."

Harry said nothing and stared at two other pictures. The one on Harry's left shoulder blade made him gasp. A beautiful phoenix was there, bright red and gold feathers gleaming. Harry could also make out a few black feathers as well. It wasn't moving.

The last one was a long snake with black, feathery wings on his right shoulder blade. It had pure black scales and bright green eyes. Harry stared at it and didn't feel any hate, only a sense of _completeness. _This one also didn't move.

He thanked the confused man and paid him. Tagger the tattoo continued to move around on his back but did nothing else. Greg told him magical properties or some insight will come to him later. With that done, they headed back to the garage. Harry was certain that along with his books, his new tattoos would be kept a secret.

They all got back to the garage at 11:30 and spent the next ten minutes just talking. During that time, Harry had gotten Hedwig back and she sat on his shoulder, nipping at his hair. He didn't know what to tell the others. He knew his hair wasn't against school rules since he had seen other kids at Hogwarts with dyed hair. What he was more worried about was his friend's reactions.

Harry sighed but smiled as Hedwig hooted. At least he didn't have to explain his eyes. Ash had suggested turning his eyes back to normal but that only left him blind. He didn't have time to go to an eye doctor. In fact, he barely had time to go get his school supplies.

It was when Switch suggested he hide it like a glamour charm but instead used his magic to cover it. She had put her hand over his eyes and instructed him to put his magic into her hands, just like when he had made the green streaks. When he felt that familiar prickling sensation, he saw that his eyes weren't slits, but round. Also, it looked like he had contacts in them so anyone who looked, wouldn't know what they really looked like.

Jack asked if he was a metamorphmagus, but Harry, who had no idea what that was, shook his head and said he would check up on that later. He checked the time and his eyes widened. "I need to get going," he said.

They all nodded and Kaz, the over-excited fairy, gave him a huge hug. She would be staying with the others. Harry bid the others goodbye and managed to whisper to Ash, "You wouldn't mind if I wrote back to you every now and then, would you?"

Ash shook her head and grinned. "Write anytime you want." She leaned in close and whispered, "I know you have the hot's for Switch."

Harry felt his face burn and whispered fiercely, "I have no idea what you mean."

Ash giggled. "Aw, your face is burning up like earlier."

Harry scowled but waved goodbye to everyone, Hedwig still perched on his shoulder, as he exited the shop. As if he could ever have a crush on someone. He didn't even understand the concept and that small crush on Cho Chang was all gone now.

Harry sighed as he was once again in Knockturn Alley. Hedwig flew above him as he walked by several shops. He had wanted to check out a few but no longer had the time but guessed if he looked really fast in one store it wouldn't matter.

He entered a large, shabby looking shop. There was no sign that stated what the store sold but one look around made Harry think they sold everything. He looked at an old pair of playing cards that actually burned any muggle who touched them. Harry passed them by and looked at some other items.

He folded his hands in thought. He wanted items that could help him protect himself but had no idea what he wanted. He didn't want to change himself too much either. Sure, he was becoming more serious but he didn't want people thinking he had become this huge Goth or Punk they would have to start looking after, especially because of his new clothes. Harry snorted and continued with his search.

Harry grabbed a few books about wards and curses. A few books were some of the weaker dark spells that only just rated above light spells. Harry grabbed two of those as well. He made his way to the back and saw several cages. He could hear hisses, growls, and squawks coming from the cages. Harry left them alone but paused as he saw one door open. It was empty.

He looked around, wondering if there was an escapee on the loose. He almost collapsed as something heavy landed on his back. He looked around and saw a three and a half foot something.

Harry looked over his shoulder and received a sharp nip of the nose. "Ow!" He swatted at the strange creature and watched it fly onto a chair. Harry stared at it. It was skinny, and had a sly look to it. It had blue fur with a white underbelly and a beak. It had black front paws and its hind legs were black talons. Scruffy black ears twitched on its head. Its tail reminded Harry of an otter and it had two pairs of feathery white wings on its back.

It chirped once before flying onto Harry's back. Harry stared at it and the creature only blinked at him. Reaching over to pet the creature on the head, Harry received another nip on the finger. "Ow!" Harry sucked on his abused finger. The creature chirped once more before burying his head into Harry's back lovingly.

"Make up your mind," Harry grumbled. The stupid thing hated him for a moment and bit him but the next moment he loved him and wanted to cuddle. Harry sighed and looked up as he heard a hoot. Hedwig had flown into the store and landed on Harry's shoulder. "Hey, girl," Harry mumbled. "Can you get…whatever this is off my shoulder?"

Hedwig blinked at him and stared at the blue creature. She hooted once and flew off, right out of the store. "Traitor," Harry was about to call, but to his surprise, the thing let go of him and flew right out the store, following Hedwig to only Merlin knew where.

Harry gulped as he felt an angry presence behind him. He turned around slowly and saw a very angry, twitching man. "I assume you'll be paying for that, right kid?" he growled.

"What!?" Harry objected. "I didn't tell it to fly off!"

The man leaned closer and Harry could smell a foul smell. "Pay for it, and we'll forget this incident, don't, and…well, let's just say you'll be walking out of this store in more than one piece."

Harry scowled but noticed a growing crowd. _"Thanks a lot, Hedwig," _he thought dully. He said to the man, "Sure, I'll pay for whatever that was."

The man grunted and led Harry over to the counter. Harry also placed his books on the counter.

"Don't worry about it, kid," the man said. "That was an Eyrie, and for whatever reason, it chose to be with you."

Harry snorted.

The man chuckled. "I've been trying to sell that thing for years but it attacked anyone who came to close. The fact that it only gave you a few nips was amazing all by itself."

Harry sighed. "Well, if it does decide to come back, can I have a book on; you called it an Eyrie, right?"

The man nodded. "I'll get you my only copy. If you see anything in the case, just take it out and add it to the pile."

Harry nodded as the man left and did as instructed. He saw several blunt knives, a few pocket watches and pieces of fur. One thing, however, made him snort. There was a gun with a sign that said, 'Goon, six galleons.'

"_Goon," _Harry thought amused. He read what the note next to it to see what the wizarding world had to say about a 'Goon.' There were several spells and enchantments on the gun but a large warning sign at the bottom said t didn't work. Harry noticed the safety was on. He snorted again at the stupidity of purebloods.

The gun included reloading, and cleaning charms. There was also an anti-noise spell on it as well. The owner had no idea what this was and what these instructions even meant. Harry bought it as well. He would probably never use it, but he couldn't chance a pureblood who knew how to use it to purchase it. He also bought several exotic owl treats. Just because Hedwig abandoned him, didn't mean he still wouldn't get her or Padfoot some treats.

When the man came back and started adding up all of Harry's purchases, he noticed Harry spying into a large goblet full of liquid. There was an egg the size of grown mans palm sitting down at the bottom.

"Kid," he muttered. Harry looked up. "If you pick that up, you can have it for free."

Harry looked at him suspiciously. "What's the liquid?"

The man grunted. "Who knows? I've had many people try to grab that egg. Been there for years. People who try always hit an invisible wall or something. Go ahead and give it a try."

Harry looked at the goblet curiously and reached his hand in. It came to a surprise to both of them when Harry reached in and pulled out the egg, his hand unharmed.

The man whistled. "Well, shoot boy. You didn't get burned."

"Burned!?" Harry said. "You said the liquid was harmless."

"I lied. That liquid burns a persons hand like acid. I only lied to see if you could do it. Looks like you can, and I always keep my word. The egg is yours."

Harry grumbled about crazy old men but inspected the egg curiously. It was black with white spots on the top. He put it into his pocket after the man gave him a cloth with a heating charm on it. Still annoyed that he had to pay for that Eyrie, he exited the store and made his way back into Diagon Alley.

He checked his new pocket watch, running his fingers over the number thirteen, and checked the time. He still had thirty-five minutes left before he made his way back. It annoyed him greatly that he had to back at a certain time. He was being rushed and that meant he didn't have a lot of time to spend with his new friends or find all, or even if it was, the right equipment.

Harry walked over to Flourish & Blotts. He was quick in there, not wasting more than five minutes. He grabbed all the books that was required and only grabbed a few extra books on jinxes, metamorphmagus, and animagus transformations. True he already had his, but he needed to figure out how to transform with shoes and stuff. McGonagall always transformed with clothes on but she never received any rips. He would figure that out later.

Happy with all of his purchases, Harry entered the Apothecary. Looking around at the different ingredients, he couldn't help but wrinkle his nose at the fowl smell. Buying his school supplies was easy, but trying to convince the store manager that he could afford one gold cauldron, two silver cauldrons, one copper cauldron, and a pewter cauldron to replace his old one at the cauldron shop was a whole new story. He needed the others for the more advance potions. He had taken a quick look and noticed most of the potions were brewed in silver cauldrons so he purchased an extra one.

It wasn't until Harry got a little too annoyed that he dumped several hundred galleons on the counter to pay for it all. Smirking at the man's look of shock, Harry also purchased fifty new vials. Twenty were normal sized ones while ten were fairly big. Another ten were only a centimeter wide and an inch long. The last ten were two centimeters big and two centimeters long. Those would be perfect for hiding cures or poisons in his new pockets.

Harry was about to pay for his purchases when a thought passed his mind. "You wouldn't happen to have any potion books that give energy, do you?"

The man, Rick, Harry read on the name tag, rubbed his chin. "What kind of energy potions? There's quite a few and they're usually for the sick or involve the dark arts."

"For insomnia," Harry responded. He would keep to his word and not sleep. He would no longer allow Voldemort into his mind to torture him at night. Until he got Occlumency or something else down, he wouldn't sleep. He sighed. He would need lots of caffeine.

"Insomnia? Pepper up potions work but if it's an everyday thing, I recommend this book." He handed Harry a dusty book that read, 'Cures for Sleep.' "We get all kinds of Aurors or anyone else who have gone through something terrible that need potions to just make it throughout the night. I suggest only taking it twice a week; otherwise your body will become addicted to it like a drug."

Harry nodded. "Does it work for those who don't sleep at all?"

Rick stared at him. "Then there's something wrong with you kid." Harry snorted and the man cracked a grin. "It should, just do as the instructions say, and you'll be fine."

"Thank you," Harry said as he paid and watched Rick shrink the packages. With a wave goodbye, Harry left the shop, a grin in place. Now he had something to help him retain his energy.

Now what did he have to purchase? Harry thought for a second and almost groaned at how stupid he was. He couldn't just walk up to everyone with all these packages. He made his way to the Briggs Luggage shop.

He noticed a few smaller kids looking around, excited grins on their faces. He couldn't help but smile as he saw the soon to be first years buy their first trunk. Harry waited patiently until there was someone free.

"What can I get ya, love?" a dark haired brunette said, flicking her hair a bit.

Harry looked at her. "I need a trunk with several rooms," he told her. "Definitely something with a library and lots of free space."

"Hmm, we have a bag that can fit almost anything into it but I don't think that's what you want." As Harry shook his head, she continued, "We do have a trunk that might have a bit more than what you want but we don't have 'just a library and extra room.' Would you like to see it?"

Harry nodded eagerly and followed her. She led him to a nice sized trunk made of Ebony wood. It was polished and shined brightly when light hit it. She popped the trunk open and jumped in. Harry followed and gasped at the large room. It was like a living room, having several comfy chairs and a large couch. There was even a fire place with gold designs.

"As you can see, sir," the girl said, "this trunk is rather expensive so if you don't think…" she trailed off as Harry lifted his bag and jingled it a bit, letting her hear all the coins.

"If you please," Harry said, "I don't have much time and would like the grand tour."

"Right away, sir." She led the way into the kitchen and Harry was more than impressed that there was actually a fridge. The girl, however, had no idea what it was. Harry noticed all the compartments and storage rooms could hold enough food to let a person live in this trunk for a full year. There was no food in it so Harry would have to buy some himself. There were a few pots and pans, though.

Two other rooms were bare but the grand room had a large king bed, a large tub for two and a good sized shower. There was a wardrobe in the room as well, to put all of his clothes. Harry was wide eyed as he took it all in and couldn't help but commemorate whoever made this trunk. However, he didn't just want a fancy trunk; he wanted a trunk with a library.

Telling the girl what he wanted to see, she gave him a large grin and beckoned him to follow. Harry did so and his grin became a bit dangerous as he saw a large library with a small gym connected to it in another room.

"You'll have to buy your own training equipment," Harry was told, "but I believe there's a shop by the grocery store about three stores down."

Harry thanked her and looked around. There were two chairs that looked even more comfortable than the one's in the Gryffindor Common Room. Another fireplace stood against the wall and instead of gold lining, it had silver. The book case was charmed to allow Harry to arrange his books in any way he wanted. The wood was made out of Rosewood this time.

The gym floor was made out of a soft material that wouldn't cause any slipping, bruised bones when landing, or stains. If any type of liquid, whether it be blood or a drink, it soaked right up and was as good as new. Harry was pretty sure it was the gym that made his final decision. He only wished he had enough time to visit muggle London to grab some exercise machines.

When they exited the trunk, Harry had left most of his purchases inside but carried his books from Flourish & Blotts, as well as his potion ingredients from the Apothecary. He couldn't have people think he didn't buy anything.

"Now," the girl started, "this trunk has charms on it that will only allow you or a family member to enter now that you own it. If you want a friend to be able enter, just say his or her name and say he/she is allowed in. The charm will allow that person to enter when you yourself are with them. They won't be able to enter without you because it is magically enchanted to stay locked. This won't work with family members, though."

Harry nodded in thanks. Since he had no family, he didn't have to worry about that.

He had the trunk shrunk and couldn't help but say, "It's great that wizard items can shrink."

The girl looked at him like he was crazy. "Of course! How else would we be able to carry all of our supplies?" She rang up the price.

Harry chuckled and paid, putting the now five inch trunk in his bag. He knew exactly where he wanted to put his dad's desk. "Now, to that training store," he said to himself.

True the girl's word; there was an exercise store next to a grocery store. Harry had actually never envisioned wizards to have a grocery store but figured that they needed a way to get food as well.

Harry couldn't help but feel a bit nervous as he entered the store. This was more of an Auror training store and Harry didn't want to deal with any questions. He was glad he had a new look and his black bandana to cover his scar.

The store itself mostly had books on self defense but Harry didn't even bother with those. He did get a wand holster that strapped to his arm. That reminded him; he still needed to speak with Mr. Ollivander. Harry had almost given up looking when he saw a small figuring pretending to shoot spells. Harry looked at the box.

_Tired of always being jumped? Tired of being weak and never on your toes? Then this is the item for you. Three figures that can reach five foot eight will put you into shape. The first one will allow you to shoot spells and see how strong it is, providing a meter. The second one is for physical defense, fighting with both fist and foot. The third one will shoot standard spells at you, giving only minimal damage if hurt. _

_There are different levels, getting harder and harder. The last two only follow these rules as the first one doesn't fight back. The fist fighting will get faster and much harder. Recommend padding. The third shoots more advance spells and the last level even provides the Poena Curse, a weaker version of the Cruciatus Curse. _

Harry grabbed two of each. He was about to grab a book on the martial arts, but Tagger stopped him. Tagger would be showing him how to fight like a dragon. Harry would be learning, advance potions, spells, fighting techniques, Occlumency, and weapons of all kind. He didn't have time to grab something flashy or unneeded. Harry agreed but still bought a book on street fighting.

"Hey, chibi!" Tagger called, waving him over. "Check out these rings."

Harry walked over, wondering why Tagger called him over about a ring. When he read what the rings had to offer, he saw Tagger's evil grin. "Gravity rings. Oh, I can't wait to start making you run."

"Just you wait," Harry whispered back. "I'll get revenge on you. Not only for the insane amount of work I know you're going to put me through, but because I know the tattoo you is jumping all over my back. It'll get me caught."

Tagger just waved him off. Harry grabbed a pair of silver rings. They were skinny and had no way of falling off without being pulled off by hands. There were ten levels on the rings, making the gravity feel heavier and heavier. They were a wizards version of weights.

Purchasing them quickly, along with a few mats and to his delight, a punching bag, he got out of there before anyone could ask him about hi age. "Hah! I still have thirty minutes left!" Harry said to himself.

He wanted to go grocery shopping in a wizard grocery store and see what it was like. Practically jogging in, Harry was disappointed it was almost the same as in muggle London. The only difference was the enchanted candies and kitchen utensils.

Scratching his head in amusement, Harry grabbed a shopping cart that floated along side of him and started browsing. Just like shopping for Aunt Petunia, Harry told himself. The only difference was that he was shopping for himself. It was true he could always get Dobby to get him food from the kitchens, but just owning food in that small trunk kind of made it home. He couldn't wait to find a home for himself now that he was emancipated. He decided to think about that later and just make it through the year.

He passed by several shopping moms and went to the dairy area. The kitchen in his trunk would keep everything from getting spoiled. Humming a little to himself, Harry grabbed two cartons of milk and a carton of chocolate milk. Since he never had chocolate milk before, he was eager to try some.

He grabbed some bacon, sausage, jam, and even steak and ribs. The raw meat had him drooling and he had to use all of his self control not to start eating it right then and there. Three different cereals were purchased as well. Harry passed the vegetable isle. He felt guilty but even in human form, it still looked disgusting and made him want to vomit. He doubted he could survive ever eating a salad.

Grabbing all kinds of canned food, Harry had a fun time looking at the butterbeer isle. They had one, three, ten, fifty, all different numbers. The cases were different. If you bought more than six, there were only six bottles in the case but a new bottle was added until it had no more. Harry grabbed two that carried fifty, giving him one hundred bottles. He loved the soft drink and knew his friends would want some as well when he decided to show them the trunk.

For a moment, he wondered if he was spoiling himself too much. He frowned and Tagger managed to nudge him into line before he decided to put several things back. Yes, he decided, he was spoiling himself, but shouldn't he? It was his money and he was using it to train. The trunk was a bit much, but Harry needed a place to train without people watching him

Besides, said a sly voice, what would your friends say if they knew you were learning the dark arts? They would stay away from you and the Headmaster would watch you every moment of the day.

No, said another voice, I'm learning this to help them. I need to train to become stronger. They would understand.

It's your money, the sly voice said. Do what you want with it.

Harry sighed and rubbed his head, confused with his internal conflict. Yes, he decided, it was his money, and he would spend the way he wanted but wisely.

Ollivander's Wand shop was only a few minutes away when he exited the grocery store, food locked in his trunk. He would sort everything later. He entered the store and stood in a corner as a young witch was trying her first wand.

"Oh, a difficult one, eh?' Ollivander was practically jumping up and down with excitement. His eyes met Harry's and he smiled. "Aw, Mr. Potter, my trickiest customer so far."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Hello, Mr. Ollivander. I just came over to ask a few questions. I'm willing to wait as this young witch finds her wand." Harry smiled at the young girl who smiled back shyly.

They continued to try a few more wands which all ended being snatched back, evidently being the wrong one. The father leaned over to Harry and whispered, "Is this guy a bit, you know, touched in the head?"

Harry chuckled. "He was like that when I got my first wand as well."

"This is still a bit much," the father whispered. "I mean cauldrons, magic wands for goodness sakes!"

Harry grinned. "Muggles?" he asked.

"If you mean no magical families, then yes."

Harry nodded. "Both my parents were magical but I grew up in the Muggle world. I had no idea until I was told on my eleventh birthday."

The father nodded. "We all thought it was some joke. I don't think we would have believed them if one woman hadn't transformed into a cat."

Harry grinned. "That would be Professor McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor house."

"Ah, yes, she did say something like that."

They grew silent as they continued to watch the girl try a new wand. With a cry of delight, Ollivander watched blue and gold sparks burst out of the wand. Harry grinned, remembering how it felt when he tried his first wand.

"Now, what can I do for you, Mr. Potter?" Mr. Ollivander asked, packaging the girl's wand.

Harry waved to her and said, "See you at school." She blushed and followed her parents out the door. He turned to Ollivander and took out his wand. "What do you know about Prior Incantatem?" he said seriously.

Ollivander's eyes met his sharply. "How do you know about that?"

"I dueled with Voldemort," Harry said slowly. He knew the Ministry and most of the wizarding world didn't believe him so he didn't know what to expect from Ollivander. "Our wands hit and a beam connected our wands, only breaking after his spell kind of backfired."

Ollivander stood up and beckoned for Harry to follow him. "Best we do this in the back with more privacy."

"Good idea," Harry muttered.

Ollivander offered Harry a stool but he shook his head. Ollivander took his wand carefully. "You need to start polishing your wand more often." Harry snorted and Ollivander cracked a smile. "But I am sure you do not wish to talk about that."

"No, no I don't."

"Very well then." Ollivander stared at the wand thoughtfully. "You say that He-who-must-not-be-named wand backfired on him?" Harry nodded. "Oh, very good, Mr. Potter!" Mr. Ollivander clapped. "I always did say great things would come from you."

Harry scowled. "Bad things seem to keep happening to me than good things."

"Good things, bad things, it all results in what will happened in the end."

Harry sighed. "I think you've accepted one too many lemon drops from Professor Dumbledore."

Mr. Ollivander chuckled. "Perhaps. But," he said sharply, "that is not what we wish to discuss."

Harry shook his head. "No. I have many questions. What can I do about Voldemort when he has a brother wand? I can't fight him if we only end in a tie. What are the laws on two wands?"

"Hmm, two wands? Well, Mr. Potter, I am afraid that is illegal." Harry deflated. "But," Harry perked up, "if we came to an agreement, I'm sure we can compromise."

"What do you want?" Harry asked.

"I want any interesting wand core that you find that you no longer need. I can give you a list so you know."

"But, won't you be giving me a wand?" Harry asked.

"Oh no, Mr. Potter, I know that you already possess a book on wand making and have some very interesting ingredients and knowledge of where to find some."

Harry pointed his wand at the elder man, having somehow summoned it back to his hand. "How do you know about that?" he growled dangerously.

Mr. Ollivander, who didn't look that surprised his own wand that he himself made was pointed at him, said, "I am able to, how you say, get a good feel of what people have done in the last twenty-four hours."

Harry didn't look convinced but asked, "Occlumency?"

"No, my own talent, Mr. Potter." Ollivander looked him squarely in the eyes. "Follow that book you bought. It was written by father, actually."

Harry looked surprised and took the slip of paper Mr. Ollivander offered him

"Your first wand is very powerful, but I think a self made wand will be very interesting."

Harry sighed. "This will take a while."

Mr. Ollivander chuckled. "I am sure you will do fine. Here," he said, handing Harry a metal box. "Some tools to help you."

"Thank a lot, Mr. Ollivander. How much?"

"Twenty galleons."

Harry grinned. "Figured I wouldn't get it for free." He looked at Ollivander seriously. "This doesn't leave the room."

Ollivander nodded. "Of course."

"Oh, and one more thing," Harry said. "Can you take the tracking charms off my wand? I want to be able to do magic when outside of school without getting caught."

"Hmm," Ollivander rubbed his chin. "I can," he said slowly, "but for another price."

Harry scowled.

"I heard that you killed a basilisk in your second year. I would like a few fangs and some scales."

Harry nodded. "Agreed." Ollivander took his wand and sprinkled some powder on it, whispering an incantation under his breath. Harry's wand glowed black for a moment before returning to normal.

Harry took his wand back tossed the money on a work bench and walked out of the store. He had nothing else to say.

Outside of the shop, Harry pulled out his gravity rings. "Almost forgot to put them on," he said to Tagger. Fitting snuggly on his two ring fingers, right next to the pinky, the rings stayed. "Level one," he said aloud. He felt a little pull but other than that, nothing big.

Shrugging, he said, "Level two." He felt a big pull that time and almost buckled under the pressure. _"Ok, I think I'll leave it at that."_

Next came the agonizing eight minute walk that took him to the Leaky Cauldron. Panting just a little bit but not enough to draw attention, Harry made his way into the pub and dropped all his stuff onto a chair. Looking around to see if his friends were there, he groaned as he saw them on the other side.

Picking up his stuff once more, he dropped everything on the floor, and collapsed on a chair next to Ron. "Hey, guys," he said tiredly.

Ron and Hermione looked at him strangely. "Err, do we know you?" Ron asked.

Harry blinked before realizing he must look very different without glasses on. The green hair must look a little odd too. He laughed. "It's me, Harry," he said, still chuckling.

"Harry?" they both said in unison.

"Yes?" he asked innocently

Hermione grabbed his hair roughly. "What have you done to your hair?!"

"I guess it's a bit much?" Harry said jokingly, getting Hermione to let go of his hair.

Ron laughed. "Merlin, Harry! Mum will have kittens when she sees what you did!"

"Then I guess it's a good thing I said no to the piercings?"

"What!?" they both yelled.

Harry sighed and laid his head on the table. This gravity thing would definitely take some getting used to. He was so tired too… No! He couldn't fall asleep, giving Voldemort another chance to enter his mind.

"So, how was your day?" he asked them.

"You missed everything, mate," Ron said. "There was a famous Quidditch player in Quality Quidditch Supplies. He was signing autographs and everything."

"Was he from the Chudley Cannons?" Harry asked.

"No," Ron said moodily.

"Then I guess he really was a professional."

"Yea…hey!"

Harry and Hermione chuckled.

"So, what about you, Harry?" Hermione asked.

Harry shrugged. "Bought my school supplies, a few extra spell books, and these two rings." He showed them to Ron and Hermione. "They make gravity much stronger than it should, giving me a good work out. I plan on getting in shape, and these things will help out." He grinned at them.

"Is that all?" Hermione said sarcastically.

"Well," Harry grinned innocently, quickly thinking of lie, "I went to a barber shop and I guess we kind of went overboard." He fiddled with a strand of green hair. "I like it though. I also got some good clothes."

"About time too, mate," Ron said, slapping him on the back.

Both boys turned to Hermione. "What about you, Hermione? How was your day?"

She smiled as at Harry, playing with his locks. Harry frowned, wondering why his hair was being played around with. He figured it was a girl thing. "Well, I found some very interesting books in Flourish & Blotts. A few will help us study for our O.W.L.s."

Ron groaned. "You can't be serious, Hermione! It's still the summer, lighten up a bit." He turned to Harry. "Back me up here, Harry."

"Sorry, Ron," Harry said, grinning. "I plan on being much more serious this year. From now on, I'll be studying like there's no tomorrow."

Hermione beamed. "At last! Now you won't be scraping by with only an E or A."

Harry snorted. "Geeze, Hermione, you make it sound like I had the worst grades in our year!"

Ron laughed. "No one can get any worse than Crabbe or Goyle."

Hermione giggled and pulled Harry closer, looking at him closely. "Ok, Harry, you're going to tell me everything." Harry gulped. "And your new contacts look really good, where did you get them?"

Harry shrugged. "Saw a magical lenses shop near Knockturn Alley."

"Is little Harrykinns disobeying all the grownups and going into Knockturn Alley?" a voice said from behind them.

Harry grinned at the twins. "And if I did? I doubt you two would rat me out, especially with all the trouble you two usually cause."

Fred and George grinned. "Looks like you know us too well," said Fred.

George ruffled his hair. "I can't wait to see mum's expression."

Harry scowled. "It's my hair; I doubt she'll get that angry over hair."

The twins shook their head and leaned closer. "It's not that," Fred whispered.

"It's the fact that the guard's couldn't find you earlier is what's giving her a panic attack," George said quietly.

Harry hid a smirk. "Did I?"

"Yep," George said cheerfully. "Speak of the devil, here she comes now." They all turned to see Mrs. Weasely walk in with a few others. Harry wrinkled his nose as Snape walked in as well.

She took one look at him, turned away, and then jerked he head back to him. "Harry!" she shrieked. They all jumped at her loud voice. She took Harry in a big hug. "Harry! Do you know how worried I was when Tonks and the others said they lost you? And what have you done to your hair?"

"Lost me?" Harry struggled out of her hold. "Lost me?" Harry repeated. "I'm not some item that can be 'lost.' If they couldn't keep up or got lost in the crowd, it's their own fault. It doesn't matter anymore, I'm fine."

He narrowed his eyes at them all, eyes trailing to Snape who sneered at him. "Hey, Professor Snape," Harry said cheerfully, making Snape's sneer falter. He also got a lot of weird glances his way. His stomach growled. "So who's hungry?"

"No one," Snape said angrily. "Because you decided to make everyone's day be much harder than necessary, we are leaving early. You can eat back at Hogwarts."

Harry scowled. "Yes, because several Order members couldn't keep up with a fifteen year old, I made everyone have a bad day." He ignored Moody's angry glare.

Snape brought himself up to full height, glaring down at Harry. "Green… my, my, Potter, how very housing to Slytherin."

Harry shrugged. "Yea, I guess green is really my color. I can't say the same about your grease, Professor."

"Why you little!" Snape snarled but Lupin cut in.

"Harry," he said gently, "just let it go."

Harry stared at Remus quietly. No one said anything.

Harry took out his pocket watch, the one from is father's vault. "Why didn't you tell me about my fathers vault?"

Remus felt his breath get caught in his throat. He reached out, almost touching the locket. He pulled it back. "Silver," he muttered sadly. He looked at Harry. "It wasn't my place to tell."

Harry looked at him sadly. "Then who else would tell me?"

Remus sighed. "I think it's best if we go Harry."

Harry only nodded, hiding a groan as he stood up, the gravity rings still as heavy as ever, and grabbed his bags. Ron and Hermione didn't say anything. Harry was fine with that. He was more angry than sad. He was pretty sure he would start screaming if someone asked the wrong question.

When it was his turn, he took the floo powder and threw it in, saying, "Dumbledore's office!"

He kept his eyes shut and held his bags tightly, falling to the ground the second time that day. He swore silently and stood up, glaring at those who laughed at him. Why was that something to laugh about? Instead of making fun of him, why couldn't they just offer words of advice?

He was prepared to leave the office when Dumbledore's calm voice said, "Harry."

Harry sighed and seated himself in an armchair. The others popped out of the fireplace and were beckoned out of the office, leaving Harry alone with the Headmaster. He only saw the worried looks his friends sent him before the door shut in their faces.

Dumbledore sat behind his desk, fiddling with bits of parchment. "Earlier this morning, I received a message that told me the guards I sent with you had apparently lost track of you."

Harry didn't look at the Headmaster. If he wouldn't look at him, he wouldn't look back.

"Well, as much as it angers me that you have to send people to look after me, nothing happened." Harry scowled at the floor. Fawkes glided onto his knee but that did nothing to calm him down.

"You know I only wish the best for you, Harry, and your safety is one of the many concerns I have for you."

Harry sighed. "Is a little bit of freedom on your list of priorities, Headmaster?"

He said nothing for a moment.

Harry stood up. "If we are done, Headmaster, I would like to eat. I haven't had lunch and would like to spend some time with my friends."

"Harry--"

"Why does Voldemort want to kill me?" Harry cut in. Harry still didn't look at him. Fawkes flew onto his shoulder, rubbing his cheek. Tagger floated close, whispering soft words.

"Harry." Harry turned to look at Dumbledore but still didn't meet his eyes. "I'm sorry."

Harry waited and when he realized he would get no other answer, he said, "I'm sorry too, Headmaster."

He patted Fawkes on the head, whispered goodbye, and watched him fly to his perch. Harry walked out the door, slamming it shut. He would find out why, even if it killed him.

Dumbledore sighed and stood up, walking over to Fawkes. "Should I have told him?" he whispered.

Fawkes chirped soothingly but still fixed the Headmaster with a stern gaze.

"Until I know he's ready." Professor Dumbledore sat down, getting his books organized. He still felt Fawkes stare at him before flying off.

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

Harry kicked at a pebble angrily. His talk with the Headmaster had already made him angry, but lunch had just about made him explode. Snape's snide remarks and Ron's stupid comments made it almost impossible to bear. He ended up storming out of the great hall and glared at Remus and Sirius who was about to follow him.

"I just need to be alone," he told them coldly, and walked off.

He walked past the Fat lady and walked into the Gryffindor common room, making his way into his dorm room. Flipping through all his purchases, Harry pulled out his new trunk and enlarged it next to his bed in the corner. He took a deep breath to calm himself down.

If he didn't have the gravity rings on, he would have probably smashed something. At least the strain and all the fast moving he did tired him out a bit. That only fueled his anger, unfortunately. He couldn't be this out of shape. He took another deep breath and successfully calmed down, remembering that he couldn't concentrate if he didn't keep his temper in check.

Opening the trunk, Harry walked down the stairs, closing the door behind him. He smiled at the nice room. Chucking his school supplies aside, he pulled out the more important stuff. _"First, have to deal with the food," _Harry thought, starting to put all the food he had bought into the freezer, fridge, and cupboards.

He popped open a butterbeer and sighed happily after taking a long gulp. "I love this stuff."

Ignoring the master bedroom, Harry entered one of the empty rooms and took out the desk from his fathers vault, all the while playing with his necklace. "Enlarge," he said. The desk enlarged and returned to its normal size in the corner. Harry ran his hand over the wood.

"I'll be back later, dad," Harry whispered.

He entered the other vacant room. He took the rock he had been kicking and transfigured it into a nice sized table. He put all the cauldrons he purchased onto it. Transfiguring a quill into a smaller table, Harry put all the ingredients and phials he got onto it. Inspecting his work, Harry shrugged it off. His transfiguring skill definitely needed work. The tables looked ready to break. He left the room, planning organizing everything later.

Now he needed to deal with the books. Entering the library, Harry practically tossed all the books out of their bags. He was sure to put the wand making book and the tools off to the side. He also pulled out his new daggers and the gun he bought. He put the daggers aside carefully and put the small hand gun on top of the fireplace, making sure the safety was still on.

Yawning, he dragged a puffy chair over and sat down, starting to read on Magical Theory.

Before he got too far into the book, Tagger reminded him he still needed to meet Kilian at 6:00.

"We never said on the time," Harry pointed out, "how do you know the time?"

Tagger gave him a look that said, 'Cuz I'm me. Duh!'

"You agreed to meet each other at night. 6:00 is when it gets dark, so that means you agreed to meet her at that time!"

Harry looked amused. "Makes sense to me." Looking back at his book, he said, "I have a lot of work ahead of me."

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

Another chapter done! Poor Harry, being rushed like that. Sadly, because he was rushed, I felt I was rushed as well. I really hope you all enjoyed my longest chapter yet.

I'm pointing this out now. Harry will not be this little punk or Goth crazy kid. Just warning you. I hope I didn't overdue it with the trunk. I've read a few stories where Harry gets a trunk that can hold over a hundred people and didn't want to do anything like that. Just a little something that he can call home and be alone but still have enough to do what he needs to do.

Harry got tattoos! I had this idea in my head for months and couldn't wait to get it down. They're really important in this story. I know it said they had magical properties, but will be nothing big that makes him unbeatable or anything. I've read a few stories that Harry gets all these tattoos cuz he's a biker or something. (Shrugg) I honestly tried to find a story where Harry didn't have any magical tattoos.

If there is one out there, I'm sorry and did not purposely steal it. If anyone does find a story with magical or similar tattoos, please tell me so I can check with the author. I don't want this story to be taken down. Someone stole one of my ideas and tried to get my story taken down already. I don't want that to happen. Luckily, the other guy was booted off How did you like the shopping spree!? I'll try to keep Harry a bit in character but still make him both childish and mature. I know, two very different mixtures. Please review! Here are some questions!

1. Do you have a made up spell you're willing to offer? Please give the name and a good description.

2. What should the Eyrie's name be? (Male name)

3. Did I overdue it with Harry?

4. When is a good time to play hooky?


	9. busy day

I hope you all enjoy this next chapter. Thank you all for the reviews! A very special thanks to Letifer Kamisori. You are awesome and have a great imagination. You have given me some very good ideas and spells for this story.

All of you out there! Give Letifer a big thank you!

Now! Onto the story!

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

"You know," a soft voice whispered with a soft lace of regret, "I was just going to use him for money."

The figure that was being spoken to turned to the person with interest. "Is that so?"

There was a sigh. "Yep. When I found out who he was, I was surprised that he was so kind. Surprise turned to greed when he offered friendship. He's loaded."

"Maybe, but you aren't using him anymore."

"No, no I'm not."

"You shouldn't stop."

There was a heavy silence. Switch and Ash were talking quietly on the roof, watching shoppers pass by below.

Switch took a deep breath. "He was using you too."

Ash looked at her best friend quizzically. "When and how?"

"It's nothing big." Ash looked at Switch intently but the red dragon just took a long drag out of a cigarette. She breathed out some smoke slowly. "The way he talks. He goes to topics that will give him important information in the future. He also took our advice to heart. That's something you normally don't see anymore."

"Does he? I didn't even notice."

Switch gave a dry laugh. "He doesn't realize it either."

"What?"

"You heard me. He wants information but doesn't know how to consciously ask. His instinct leads him on."

Ash laughed. "How… interesting."

Switch spared her a glance before taking another drag on her cigarette. "Interesting? Perhaps, but for a human, interesting doesn't give him credit."

Ash scratched her cheek in thought. "So, why do you want me to stop using him? He truly wants to be a friend. Jack is in the bag. You know how he loves being anyone's friend. The others are staying neutral but Jay is easy to persuade."

Switch nodded. "Where does that leave you?"

Ash shrugged. "He's a very good acquaintance who is on his way to becoming a good friend."

Switch rolled her eyes. She sighed. "Use him for information, keeping in touch, being a friend."

They were silent for a moment.

"What did your sister have to say?" Ash asked carefully.

Switch took another drag of her cigarette before flinging it away. "She had a vision."

"And?" Ash prodded.

"Harry would paint them."

"Ah." Ash twitched an ear in amusement. "He's pretty good at drawing, kinda similar to…"

"I know," Switch cut in, a scowl on her face. "I don't care if he paints a vision or whatever, I'm not using him."

"…"

Switch laughed, sounding a bit crazed. "Who would have thought I'd actually make another friend, especially after what happened? The gang is different."

Ash shrugged. "It's interesting."

Switch glared. "Is that your favorite word today?" Ash looked smug. "Let's just be thankful he didn't meet a different demon. He's way too trusting, something I know he'll learn to stop. Imagine if he met a Siamese cat demon? Damn sluts."

Ash scowled.

"What's with you?"

"He," Ash grumbled, "thought I was a cat demon at first."

Switch stared at her for a full minute before snorting.

"It's not funny!"

"Yes, Ash, it is."

Ash grumbled some more.

"He asked about flying while everyone was talking."

"Oh?"

Switch nodded. "I told him he had no chance of flying anytime soon."

"Wow, Switch, you are so encouraging," Ash said sarcastically.

Switch rolled her eyes. "His wing muscle is pathetic. I told him to continue exercises and to practice flapping them for at least an hour each day. I also slipped him a book I had when I was a hatchling."

"You're holding back, Switch. I know that look, now spill."

"Not really." Ash gave her a glance. "Flight will not come to him for a while."

"How come?"

"A dragon only earns the right to flight when they are faced with…"

"With?" Ash asked, curiosity burning.

"None of your business."

Ash sighed. "Then why force him to go through exercises when he'll just be able to fly anyway?"

"That's the problem with almost every single dragon demon," Switch growled. "Once they get the power of flight, the most they can stay up is an hour. Muscle comes with time, and so does experience. If he gets both early, he can hold out longer."

Ash nodded, seeing the logic.

Switch made a snorting sound that was really a chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Ash asked.

Switch tapped the roof in amusement. "Did you notice his tail?"

Ash tilted her head in thought. "Yea, it was spaded."

Switch nodded. "He has the body of a hatchling."

Ash stared at Switch incredulously. "Say what?"

"Only hatchlings have a spaded tail. They lose it after a few years once they reach maturity. Harry will probably lose his faster but the fact of the matter is…"

"…he's basically still a cub," Ash finished, laughing loudly.

Switch spared her a glance, laughter in her eyes.

They stayed quiet in a relative peace.

"Keep in contact," Switch whispered, turning away slightly, "because he doesn't judge us."

"Or anyone for that matter," Ash whispered back.

"Yea, it's really weird," Switch said in normal voice before heading down to the garage.

Ash rolled her eyes, following Switch down the stairs.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry paced before the fireplace, large flames flickering almost teasingly. He had been in his trunk for over an hour and had read a bit about magical theory. It was all interesting and was very helpful with basic magic.

Right now, Harry was arranging his books. There were four different book cases, able to hold at least 200 books each. The first case would hold all the dark or relatively dark spells. The second one held his potions and healing books. The third one held little extra's on curses and spells or any other book he found. Those he would take out of the trunk without fear of getting caught. The final was empty. He would fill this one up with all the books he saw in his family vault.

That wasn't something he could do soon but it was nice to know he would have a place for them. The only books that were put aside were the wand making books, the book Switch gave him and the Potions for Dummies. He still smiled as he looked at the book. He had so many things he had to do but deal with later.

Buckbeak had been right, he should have planned. He didn't, and was now paying the consequences. He couldn't randomly read a book before switching to a new one, which would be too confusing. That was why he now a piece of parchment and quill in hand, ready to make a schedule. It started out like this.

**One hour work out and fighting dummies.**

**One hour studying spells on theory, creativity, and any other way.**

**One hour on Ancient Runes. **

**One hour meditation and Occlumency.**

**Two hours potions. **

**One hour weaponry practice. **

**One hour for practicing wing development and flight.**

Harry nodded thoughtfully. That would be a lot of hours. He was glad he would no longer sleep, but still mentally cried at the huge loss. Until he was sure he could block Voldemort out, he had to give it up.

The first three things on the list would be done during the day and in private. He still had to make an appearance in front of his friends so they didn't find out his true intentions. He cared for them greatly but knew they would never agree with what he wanted to learn.

The rest of the things would be done at night or very early in the morning. He feared he would soon become weak and too tired to keep up this schedule for a while. His problems were solved when he found the book on energies the man at the cauldron shop gave him.

That would be the first thing he would start tonight. When everyone was asleep, his real training would begin. He still needed everything set up. Glancing back at the fireplace once more, Harry smirked and entered the medium sized gym. Three dummies were already placed against the wall, just waiting to be activated.

Harry was glad he had thought to buy two pairs of sweats as well. He didn't want to ruin his new clothes. Harry took off his shirt and boots, tossing them to the side and out of harms way. He played around with his daggers for a minute, an almost childlike grin on his face.

Putting them aside as well, he concentrated. Smirking, Harry felt his feet turn to claws and scales grow up to his knees. He flexed them and wagged his tail that had come out as well. The last thing was his chest. Scales covered his front and back completely, stopping at his hips and shoulders. Who needed to buy dragon hide vests when he had his own personal vest?

With a flick of his wand, dummy number one activated and moved into a crouching position. He would start out with fighting hand to hand.

The dummy ran at him a bit slowly when Harry got into a crouching position as well. Level one should be easy, Harry thought.

He ducked low at the fist coming at his head and followed through with his own punch. It did no damage whatsoever. Harry jumped away, body tense. He narrowed his eyes, watching the dummy once again come at him with a kick to the chest.

Putting his hands on the foot, he let himself be pushed away. Harry felt his body being shoved into a backwards summersault. Grinning, Harry lashed his tail at the dummies chest.

"Hah!" Harry crowed but swiftly received a fist to the face.

Groaning slightly, Harry held his cheek but got up quickly. He glared angrily as the dummy ran at him, unleashing several combos of punches and kicks. He dodged a few in the beginning because the dummy _was_ only on level one but soon lost his momentum and got the crap beaten out of him.

Harry weakly pulled himself into a sitting position. The dummy wouldn't attack him while he was still on the ground until reached level three. "Crap," Harry panted.

Transforming his hands into claws, Harry ran forward, catching a fist in his hand and slashing the dummy in the face. The scratches were healed but he received a punch to the gut.

Breathless, Harry jumped back a little, panting harshly. _"I'm panting already! This is not good."_ Harry also forgot his gravity rings made it harder for him.

The dummy continued to fight Harry for the next ten minutes until Harry finally had to pause it, needing to get his air supply back.

"Don't give up, Harry," Tagger said encouragingly. "You did a good job for your first time. Don't feel bad, you'll get better with time."

Harry nodded, still gasping a bit.

"I'm going to teach you a starting move dragons use on foes," Tagger announced and flew in front of Harry.

"Will you really?" Harry's panting seemed to disappear as he watched Tagger.

"Just watch what I do." Tagger slashed the air with a claw, starting from the right side. "Now you do it."

Harry brought his hand to his side and took a swipe, getting a nod from Tagger.

"Now for the left claw." Tagger did the same swipe with his left claw. "Now we do this again." He swiped the air with his right followed by the right.

Harry copied the movement. That wasn't so hard.

"Here's where it gets tricky. Now, you have to use the momentum from the swipes and whack your foe with your tail."

Tagger quickly swiped the air with his claws before spinning counter-clockwise, his tail lashing out.

Harry swiped the air with as much force as possible before allowing his feet to spin. He managed to trip himself with his own tail. "Uhg, this is harder than I thought."

"Just keep trying, Harry," Tagger said.

Harry did try again. It took him a total of eight times to get it right before he could do it perfectly.

"Good!" Tagger said cheerfully. "Now for the last part." Tagger swiped the claws just like previously done before, lashed out with his tail, and finally managed to finish the spin with one last slash with his right claw that could be aimed at the chest or face. "Your turn!"

Harry nodded and got into position. He lashed out at an invisible enemy, doing all the right movements and completing it without even falling over. "I did it," Harry said happily.

Tagger nodded, grinning happily. "Now try it on that dummy."

Harry activated the dummy once more, getting into position. The dummy came at him several times within the next thirty minutes. Harry continued to do the same technique but it had soon turned into a game. It was no longer fighting, but wrestling. Harry didn't realize it, but once he became comfortable fighting, his body moved like that of a young cub learning to play fight with its brothers.

That was why Harry had a satisfied grin on his face when he put the dummy away, slightly out of breath but still happy. Tagger flew around in circles, happy with how quickly Harry was learning that technique. Harry put on his shirt, pausing to watch the tattoo Tagger do a few flips on his shoulder before moving back to his back. Harry had transformed his feet and hands back to normal. The tail was gone but Harry kept the scales on his chest. His eyes, which he would never change back, still remained hidden under the strange charm that was put on him. He kept his hearing and smelling at that of a dragon.

Harry jumped from one foot to another, not entirely sure where to go next. Deciding to get a better insight of the master bedroom, he entered it.

Harry ran a hand over the silk blankets, a shiver going up his spine. It had to be the best material he had ever felt. The bed was queen sized with plenty of room on it. The blankets and pillows were both tan and brown, but had a few gold color designs on the hems. Harry couldn't resist jumping on the bed, lying spread eagled and letting a childish giggle escape his lips.

This was truly his. There were no Dursley's or anyone else that could take it away from him. Rolling over the side, Harry fell off, landing on all fours and headed to the bathroom. There were two different sinks with a small towel wrack and medicine cabinet next to it. He opened the medicine cabinet and closed it slowly at the empty sight. He would be sure to put healing potions in there.

The tub was amazing as well. The size and the thought of hot water made Harry almost jump in right then and there. He resisted the urge and turned to the tabs. There were the usual hot and cold tabs, but there was also one for bubble baths, some that actually shot out different color bubbles, and one that allowed an oily substance to pour out, allowing tense muscles to relax.

He glanced at the large mirror, staring at his reflection. He didn't know how his friends had truly felt when they saw his new look. He shook his head, letting black and green locks fly about his face. At least _he_ liked it.

Stepping out of the bathroom, Harry made his way over to the wardrobe. He had already taken care of putting all of his new clothes away. Brushing a hand along some shirts, Harry closed the closet door and went back into the library.

"I suggest you start looking at your potion books," Tagger advised. "It would be good to get started on those as soon as possible."

Harry agreed whole heartedly and grabbed his fifth year potion book, Cures for Sleep, and the Potions for Dummies. Entering his new potions room, Harry moved a few items out of the way but put the pewter cauldron right in front of him. Opening the Insomnia book, Harry read a few lines before tossing it away angrily onto a chair.

"What's wrong?" Tagger asked.

Harry scowled angrily. "I can't make the damn potion until its night. What kind of potion that cures insomnia is supposed to be brewed at night?"

"Obviously that one," Tagger muttered.

Harry grumbled a bit before grabbing his fifth year book, opening it to the index. His eyes spotted a Blood Replenishing potion. He opened it to that page. "I definitely need some of these."

"Check out that other book first," Tagger told him. "It might be useful."

Harry shrugged and opened the other book. To his horror, it was completely blank. "What a rip off!" Harry yelled. He was about to throw that book away as well before writing appeared on the pages.

_**Hello, young student. I will be here to guide you through the art of potions.**_

Harry dropped the book, shock overriding his system. Mental pictures of Tom Riddle and his diary came to mind. A fierce basilisk and arrogant laughter rang through out his ears. After a minute of silence, he picked up the book again.

"Tom?" Harry whispered to the book.

**_Tom? I can assure you, I am no 'Tom.' If you are naming me, please desist. I have no name and wish for none. My creator gave his knowledge of potions to a blank book, thus creating me. _**

"Who was your creator?" Harry asked.

_**Hmm, an interesting question.**_

"You don't know?" Harry asked feeling a bit frustrated.

_**No.**_

"Then when were you made?"

_**I don't know.**_

"You're useless."

_**I beg to differ. It is me that has the knowledge you need. But, if is years you want, I can tell you I was made a little less than a thousand years ago.**_

Harry gapped. "How do I know you're telling me the truth?"

_**You don't.**_

"You're not helping."

_**I know. What makes you so untrusting? How did you expect to receive help about potions anyway?**_

"Err…" That question stumped Harry. "I don't know."

_**In any case, if you wish for help, just place a potions book on top of me. All information shall come into me. I will then look like the book you need, allowing you to look up a potion quite easily.**_

"How will you help me?" Harry questioned, caution still on overdrive. His curiosity was at its highest peak. He couldn't give up this book. It also didn't know who its creator was. Heck, the book was made before Voldemort or even Dumbledore was born.

_**I will give tips and advice. I will leave instructions on how to make a potion faster or more efficient than it should normally be.**_

"And what if someone sees your notes?"

_**Are you daft, boy? I would allow no such thing. These words are written in a very sacred language that few can understand.**_

"And what language is that?"

_**I don't know.**_

Harry groaned. "You don't know anything outside of potions, do you?"

**_That is not what I was made for. Now, please put a potions book on me and let's get started._**

"First, I have a question for you," Harry said boldly, glaring at the book. "What do you think of the name Voldemort?"

_**Voldemort? Flight of Death… Sounds like someone has some issues with death. Is he a coward in your time?**_

Harry snorted. Oh yea, this book had no relationship with Voldemort. Voldemort was like a little kid, boasting over some pathetic victory. He would never openly – book or not – say something bad about his name

"Oh yea, one of the biggest cowards on earth. He sends his little cronies to do his dirty work."

**_And I suppose you are making potions because of his 'little cronies?'_**

"Well," Harry said hesitantly, "for both."

_**Then you are either weak or they are stronger than you say.**_

Harry grumbled.

_**What was that?**_

"I said I would get that book now." Harry shut the annoying book shut and put his fifth year potions book on top of it. A light glow covered the two books before Harry reopened it.

"Can I call you something? I know you don't want a name but saying Potions for Dummies would get annoying after a while."

**_Yes, I suppose it would. Very well, you may call me P._**

"P?"

_**Would you prefer master?**_

Harry narrowed his eyes. He was ready to burn the book right then and there.

_**But master is a fowl word for a student. What would ever happen if the student surpassed the teacher? Bloodshed.**_

"I… never thought of something like that."

_**No matter. You were planning to make Blood Replenishing potions, correct? **_

"Yes."

**_Very well. The instructions in this book say you need Aconite, daisy roots, erumpent fluid, and salamander blood. I want you to replace the daisy roots with ginger roots. Get them out and put the erumpent fluid in first. I want the fire to be at 200 degrees, giving the liquid a nice boil._**

Harry did so without a word. He was glad he had restocked on all his school ingredients and bought extras. He put the erumpent in the cauldron and lit a small fire under the pewter cauldron. He held his wand under the fire until it was exactly 200 hundred degrees; he watched bubbles start to form after three minutes.

_**It should be boiling by now. Stir the fluid twenty times clockwise.**_

"But I haven't added anything!" Harry protested.

**_You want my help, yes? Then do it._**

Harry did it without another complaint.

_**Let it relax for exactly three minutes. Use this time to cut the ginger roots into equal sizes. It does not matter if they are crooked or have little spots. As long as they are the same size, it doesn't matter.**_

Harry took out his cutting knife and aligned the roots together, cutting off the tips. The roots were in good condition. Harry put the five roots to the side, checking out what P had to say. He still didn't know why the book came up with that. Probably for potions or something.

_**Add one root at a time, stir once counter-clockwise before adding another one. Do this until all five roots have been added. **_

Harry did so. He watched as the clear liquid turned lime green. He looked at it worriedly. He was pretty sure he hadn't messed up. He did all the instructions.

_**In the art of potions, one must be calm, no matter what emotions are going through your head. If one is bothering you, merely ignore them. Just be at peace. In time, potions will become something you will enjoy.**_

Harry scratched his head in amusement. "So, I just have to zone out?"

_**In a way. Your only focus should be on your potion. Ignore everything else. Your potion should now be turning a very light green. Start stirring clockwise for the next ten minutes. When time the time is over, add the Aconite. **_

Harry sighed and started to stir. Harry passed the time by just watching the way the water moved around. He grinned, wondering if he would succeed. He truly wondered if it wasn't for Snape, would he be good at potions? Or would this success only be because of these instructions?

_**Now, quickly add the Aconite. Do not let it sit in there for more than four minutes and 34 seconds. **_

Harry dropped the flower into the potion and watched it float. While he counted down the time, he noticed the flower lose its color and the potion turn a soft pink. When he took the flower out, it had turned completely white. He stared at the now pink potion.

_**For the final stage, stir clockwise 20 times while adding the salamander blood. When you have spun it twenty times, stir it only half way counter-clockwise. You should get the results you are looking for.**_

Harry stirred slowly, pouring the salamander blood in. When the twentieth stir came, the potion was a bright red color. It was the same color Madame Pomfrey always gave him. That's why it came to a surprise when he gave that final half spin. The potion turned such a dark red. A _blood_ red.

**_Your potion is now complete. The instructions in your other book were atrocious. Not letting the aconite soak, but rather cut into the potion… How does this century survive? And daisy roots? They are weaker than ginger roots when it comes to healing potions. Daisy roots are better for poisons. _**

Harry poured the potion into a vial and held it up to his face. "I really did it. I can't believe I actually made a potion correctly." Harry grinned and bent over the book. "Thank you so much, P."

_**This potion was simple. Any idiot could brew it. When we get to harder potions, you might not be so lucky. When you want a new book, put it on me and I shall change into it. If you want your previous book, you must repeat the process. Very simple.**_

"Yes…"

_**There is no need to be nervous about anyone finding out about my notes. The instructions from your book are still there. You just look at my notes instead. My messages are short and to the point. They disappear when you are done reading them. **_

Harry had noticed that.

_**Just don't speak to me, and you shall me fine.**_

Harry chuckled at the thought. That would look odd. A person talking to a book…

Harry closed P and managed to bottle two other vials, giving him a total of three. Harry grabbed the three vials and his original fifth year potions book. He left the other stuff alone but made sure to quickly clean up.

He walked back into the library and put his book with the other potions books. He stared at his small library with a small hint of pride. Did he even deserve to feel such emotions?

Harry swept his eyes over the books. He had to have at least eighty to a hundred books total. Grabbing a random book from his spell section, Harry put it on the small table in front of the chairs. He also added an Occlumency book to the table. He put the potions on the table as well but made sure to pocket one.

Harry glanced around and saw his black backpack that he had taken down as well. He smiled, happy to have it back. The flask and knife lay on a table in the front room. Putting the two books in the bag, Harry also put a few pencils and his sketchbook in it. Shrugging it onto his shoulder and looked around the room. His room.

The egg he had gotten lay in a small carrier with charmed blankets to keep it warm. Harry rubbed a finger over the hard shell, wondering what would come out.

He saw the stuffed dragon Charlie had given him yawn widely, flexing its wings on one of the chairs. That's all it seemed to do lately. The children books lay next to it. Harry tore his eyes away and pocketed the Marauders Map. After checking to make sure Ron wasn't in the dorm room, Harry exited the trunk.

It was time to go outside.

His stomach didn't agree with him as it grumbled loudly. To the kitchens then. Oh well, he could check up on Padfoot and feed him. Stopping in the kitchens, Harry had a small talk with Dobby. He was horrified that he had forgotten to read the book Dobby told him about. Harry fought the urge to go back and get it. He could read it later.

Harry realized that he would have a lot of time now. He didn't like the thought but knew it could give him the extra hours he needed to study. Still, the thought of no sleep until he found a way to block Voldemort out of his mind wasn't as pleasing as it sounded.

Harry walked up to the owlery and checked up on Padfoot. There was still no Hedwig or the evil little beast that Harry had to pay for. Feeding Padfoot quickly, Harry walked down to the field just outside of the Forbidden Forest. He didn't run into anybody thanks to the map and only felt a little bit guilty. He squashed that guilt down and stepped out onto the grass.

Settling himself under a shaded tree, well away from the Whomping Willow, Harry took out the Occlumency book. He had the map out by his side. He didn't want anyone to find out about his new book. He didn't want someone who knew the subject to start guessing why Harry needed to learn it. He would switch out the spell book instead if someone came.

_Occlumency is a branch of __magic__ that concerns itself with closing one's mind against external penetration, with the intent of preventing others from reading one's thoughts or emotions. One who is practiced in Occlumency is known as an Occlumens. The companion art to Occlumency is that of __Legilimency__, the ability to read another person's mind._

Harry lifted a brow. _"Woah, now this is will really help me!"_

_To perform Occlumency, one needs to rid his mind of emotion, empty it... make it blank and calm. Therefore, instead of simply blocking an enemy's attempts in breaking into your mind, Occlumency requires an individual to clear their mind of thoughts in order to reveal nothing about themselves._

_A skilled Occlumens can hide both memories and emotions from an invader. When one has advanced through the stages of Occlumency, they are able to build defenses, such as a wall or perhaps a dome, to completely hide a memory. Those skilled in this particular subject often hide emotions like anger or unwanted memories. _

_To start at the basics, one must clear his or her mind each night before going to sleep. This will start the process of Occlumency. Your magic will be pushed into your mind. Use the magic to mold your mind. Each person has a specific mindset but has the ability to change it._

_This has not happened in the last one hundred years because of such difficulty. Adding and changing are completely different. You must be wise and know your limitations._

Harry stopped reading. He had to block out his mind of all emotions? The book also made it seem as if he would look cold, no emotions whatsoever. Perhaps it was only if he wished it. Harry thought about it. That could really help when talking to people he didn't like, like Malfoy, and not show any emotion.

Turning back to the book, it said:

_At least one hour every day of meditation should help you come in a type of contact with your mind and magic. Determining on what is your goal; meditation will help calm the mind. Similar meditations can lead others to their animagus form, or even a past life._

_Of course, past lives are nothing but a myth at this point. There was one witch…_

Harry stopped reading. He didn't care about a past life. He didn't believe in stuff like that either and thought it pointless. What he needed to do was meditate.

"Hey, Tagger," Harry said to the floating dragon. "Can you tell me when an hour passes? And if I start to fall asleep, wake me up immediately."

"Got it, chibi," Tagger said with his usual grin.

"As if you have any right to call me small…" Harry grumbled.

He got into a more comfortable position and leaned against the tree, closing his eyes.

Peace and quiet was what he needed. _"Just clear my thoughts… Crap! I'm thinking. Ok, stop thinking. Stop. Stop now! Uhg, stop!" _Harry snapped open his eyes. "I can't stop thinking."

Tagger glanced at him. "How about you stare? Instead of closing your eyes, just gaze off, lose focus and not think?"

Harry contemplated that idea for a minute. Sure, what the heck? He looked at the ground and saw a single drop of water on a leaf. He stared at it, focusing on how the light reflected off of it, making it more than one color. It was like a rainbow, Harry mused.

He snapped his eyes to the sky. He was still thinking. Five minutes passed and Harry decided to have another go at closing his eyes. This time it started to work, but Harry soon got bored.

Harry gritted his teeth in frustration. Clearing your mind was harder than he thought. Taking a deep breath, Harry closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. The trees blew with the wind, blowing leaves everywhere. The grass danced in tune with each other and the birds sang in the clouds.

This was all heard by Harry, who still couldn't clear his mind. Instead, his mind was focusing on his surroundings. This continued for the next hour and although Harry did not get ahead on Occlumency, he still learned how to focus on his surroundings, although somewhat weakly.

"Hoot Hoo," the sound of an owl echoed just as Harry packed up his bag.

Harry turned to the trees and saw Hedwig fly over to him, landing on his shoulder. "There you are, Hedwig," Harry said happily. He only just had enough time to stop himself from being pushed forward as something collided with his back.

"You again?" Harry grumbled, annoyed at the blue creature.

It chirped happily at him and snuggled its head into Harry's back. Harry sighed and reached to pet the Eyrie but received a sharp nip on the finger. Harry swore at the bird-cat-griffon-whatever it was! He managed to wrap his arms around the Eyrie and start to pull but the damn thing just held on tighter and bit at his fingers.

"Get off of me!" Harry growled angrily. Hedwig had long since flown to a branch and watched the exchange with amusement. The two fought for five minutes before Harry pulled his bloody hands away. The Eyrie chirped triumphantly. Harry turned to glare at the smug creature.

"Just you wait…" Harry warned. Harry healed his hands quickly and grabbed his things, Hedwig flying above him while the Eyrie stayed attached to his back. He entered the Great Hall and saw a few Order members. Harry collapsed next to Remus.

"Interesting new friend, Harry," Remus said, looking at the thing on Harry's back.

Harry put his chin on the table, glowering at a goblet. "Glad you think so. Keep him, I don't want him."

Remus reached a hand out to pet the Eyrie on the head but snapped it back as it tried to bite him.

"Barbaric little fellow," Remus chuckled.

Harry grumbled. "Stupid thing won't let go. It loves me for a second before I try to pet it. Do you know when Hagrid will be back? He can take this thing off my back, and I mean literally."

Remus chuckled. "I'm afraid Hagrid won't be back for a while. In the mean time, try to be just a bit nicer to it and see if he'll let go. Try giving him a name."

Harry sighed. "Couldn't I just curse it?"

"And miss it?" Remus chided. "I shudder to think what would remain of your back."

Harry said nothing. His back and front was covered in scales, giving protection to minimal curses and small claws like the Eyrie, but Remus didn't need to know that.

"Fine, you come up with a name."

Remus folded his hands in thought. "How about Nore?"

Harry stared at Remus incredulously. "Nore?"

Remus looked a little embarrassed. "What's wrong with Nore?"

"What isn't wrong with Nore?" Harry asked back. He sighed. "Hmm… how about Vox?"

The Eyrie on his back gave a chirp but still nibbled on his ear a bit harder than necessary.

Harry scowled and rubbed his ear. "I guess he likes it." Harry stayed quiet and played with the hem of his shirt. He was tense around Remus. He desperately wanted to talk but wasn't sure what to say.

Remus, as if reading his thoughts, said, "Harry, I know you are probably angry about earlier, would you like to talk?"

Harry averted his eyes but nodded. Remus smiled encouragingly to Harry. "Vault 13," Remus said with a laugh, "was your father's idea. He loved almost anything that others didn't like. Usually he did it to annoy others."

Harry smiled shyly, listening attentively.

"It was actually Sirius' idea that James should put all the money the Marauders invested in into that vault. Cost all of us quite a small fortune but it was worth it." Remus smiled, thinking of old memories. "Sirius is stalking the floors right now. He's a little angry you didn't even know about the Marauder vault."

Harry shrugged. "I didn't even know I had a family vault until today." Harry brought up his necklace to show Remus. "I always thought I had been using it since first year."

Remus fingered the necklace fondly but Harry suddenly forced it out of Remus' grasp. "Remus! Its silver, I didn't mean to!"

Remus laughed. "It's quite alright, Harry. I can tell when something is silver or not. This is white gold. Very beautiful. Who made it?"

Harry shrugged, embarrassed. "I don't know. It was given to Samuel Potter. I wonder what he is to me."

Remus put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry, you know that Sirius and I are here for you whenever you need to talk." Harry stared at Remus. Remus had to fight the urge to look away from those haunted but bright, beautiful green eyes.

"Really?" Harry asked.

Remus nodded seriously. "Anything, Harry." He smiled. "If you ever want someone to accompany you to your family vault to help with stuff like photos, papers, anything, I'll be there for you. Sirius too."

"Can you really?" Harry asked, smiling.

Remus smiled back kindly. "Of course. Was there anything else you needed to talk about?"

"Actually," Harry started, poking at the table a bit and shifting his weight so that Vox wasn't too uncomfortable on him. "Do you know someone named Fenir Greyback?"

Remus' breath got caught in his breath. How did his cub know about that monster? "I… I know him."

"Oh." Harry looked down. "Were you two close?"

Remus thought about the question. "In a way," he said at last. "But I wanted absolutely nothing to do with him."

"Did you?" Harry looked back up, eyes shining. For a moment, he was worried the two were really good friends.

Remus sat back. "He was the man that bit me," he confessed.

There was a stunned silence.

"But how do you know him?" Remus asked curiously. His eyes widened in shock as he grabbed Harry's arms and neck. "Did he bite you? You met him in the sewers, didn't you?"

Harry broke away from Remus. "I met him in the sewers," Harry said, waiting for a reaction out of Remus. He continued when he saw none. "I… he… he attacked me," he admitted.

"What did he do?" Remus growled, his eyes flashing. He wanted nothing more than to drag Harry into his arms but knew that was not the best approach at the moment.

Harry shook his head. Was he really going to confess to murder right then and there? "I… I st…"

"Harry!" a dog like voice called. Harry and Remus turned to a grinning Sirius. "There you are, Harry. And what is that?" He pointed at Vox who snarled viciously at him. Sirius backed up a few steps, hands in the air, a sign of 'you win!'

Remus felt like slamming Sirius's head against the wall over and over again. Now Harry would never tell. He would have to find out on his own. He had to make sure nothing serious happened to Harry, besides getting attacked by Voldemort of course. He sighed. "Sirius, what are you doing?"

Sirius looked like he was caught in the act of stealing a cookie. "Can't I see my Godson?"

Harry grinned. "It's good to see you, Sirius. Sorry about earlier, I was a little overwhelmed with everything."

"Uh huh, I would expect so. Well, go on, bring out the pocket watch."

Harry rolled his eyes at his Godfather's childlike behavior. He pulled the pocket watch out and tossed it over. Sirius caught it, fumbling a bit as it almost fell. "Damn thing, trying to escape my grasp. Come along to Padfoot now."

Harry and Remus laughed.

Sirius opened it, smiling widely. He leaned over to Harry but kept it away from Remus. "This watch was made by your grandmother, Harry."

Harry looked at Sirius. "Really?" Oh gosh, did his voice sound squeaky?

Sirius nodded. "That's where your father got his personality from. Father was a great man, loved him like he was my own pop. Although he didn't always agree with your father and grandmother, he always made sure to look the other way. He loved them both very much. He would have loved you too."

Harry looked away, blushing. His Aunt's angry voice rang throughout his ears. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts.

"Of course," Sirius continued, "he was always set on those he loved. His choices and thoughts never wavered, no matter what happened. That where you get that from, Harry," Sirius said with a wink.

"Did he approve of my mother?" Harry asked quietly. He was a pureblood and didn't know a whole lot about him.

"Approve?" Sirius said, acting wounded. "The guy would have probably made off and married Lily if already wasn't married." He chuckled at Remus. "He loved your mum, Harry. Personally, I think it was the way she bossed around your dad."

Harry chuckled but quieted down a little. He looked at Sirius hesitantly. "Tell me more?"

Sirius's smile faltered somewhat. Didn't his kid know _anything _about his family? Those damn muggles.

"Of course, Harry," Remus said. "How about we tell you the time your father spied on Lily while she was dating some bloke back in fourth year?"

"Did he really?" Harry laughed. "Didn't she like him?"

Sirius laughed. "Oh no, your mother absolutely despised James. It wasn't until fifth year did he let out a little hot air and got some brains. Jamsie loved Lily the first day he met her on the train first year."

"But calling her carrot head wasn't exactly the best way to greet her," Remus scolded Sirius.

"Well, I never claimed James to be smart," Sirius said jokingly. "From the moment he realized they would both be in the same house, he followed her everywhere. Some might call him a stalker and others might say he's just a fool in love."

"What about you?" Harry asked. "What did you think?"

"Me?" Sirius rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I didn't particularly like it when Prongs dragged us around to stalk Lily on dates or something like that, but I did like it when I pushed Lily into another boy to get a rile out of James."

Remus sighed but still cracked a smile. "And I seem to recall you getting beat up every single time."

"And it was worth it," Sirius retorted. He turned to Harry and patted him on the head, mindful of Vox. "You'll find yourself a beautiful girl someday as well. You'll love her with all your heart and stalk to such an extreme every man will know it."

"Uh, I don't think I'll be doing anything like that, Sirius," Harry said, laughing.

Sirius laughed as well and played with his hair. "Interesting hair," he told him. "Would have driven your mother nuts. James would have loved it and offered to take you out to a bar or something."

"Sirius!" Remus barked.

"And he would have showed you around the city looking at hot girls," Sirius continued, oblivious to a very angry Moony.

"Sirius, I'm warning you…"

Sirius was laughing wildly now. "Relax, Moony, I'm not going to scar him or anything."

Harry snorted. "Don't worry about it, Remus. Sirius only likes to talk like he can get a girl 'cuz he can never get it."

"What is that supposed to mean!?" Sirius laughed, grabbing Harry in a head lock, causing Vox to fly away and out the owl window with an angry squawk.

"You heard me, Sirius," Harry laughed, getting out of Sirius's hold and running off. Sirius transformed into his dog form and chased after Harry causing the few that were in the Great Hall to look at the two as they ran out.

Remus sighed tiredly and ran a hand threw his graying hair.

"It's good to see Mr. Potter with a smile," McGonagall said as she sat next to Remus. "I haven't seen him this happy in a long time."

Remus smiled at his old professor. "You are right, but I think Harry just needed someone who would sit down next to him and truly talk to him."

Professor McGonagall just nodded and brought out some papers, getting ready for the next year. "The Headmaster is worried about him."

"We all are," Remus said. "He had to watch the rebirth of You-Know-Who, was tortured in his own home and forced to escape through the sewers with Death Eaters after him."

McGonagall sighed tiredly. "He was always such a good boy. I don't think I've ever heard him complain before, not even with the incident with him and Ronald Weasely last year."

"Incident?" Remus asked curiously.

"The two got an argument after Mr. Potter's name was pulled out of that goblet. The little fight didn't last long. They made up after the first task."

Remus frowned. "Surely Ron didn't think Harry purposely put his name in the Goblet of Fire, did he?"

McGonagall shrugged. "From what I observed, he did."

Remus tapped on the table. "He met Fenir Greyback," he said, changing the topic."

McGonagall's nostrils flared slightly. "Did he?"

"Yes," Remus growled. "Something more than just being chased happened in those sewers."

"And you intend to find out?"

"I do."

"I wouldn't let it bother you too much. If Mr. Potter wished to talk about it, he'll speak to you eventually."

Remus shook his head. "Not with Harry. That boy keeps everything locked up. I don't think he even tells his friends how he feels."

"Perhaps… but you must remember, it is Harry's choice."

Remus let his shoulders lag. When has Harry ever had a choice…?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry rubbed his stomach happily. He and Sirius had grabbed a snack in the kitchen. The food was as good as ever and Sirius kept him entertained with stories about his father and mother. The stories seemed to help Sirius just as much as it did to Harry.

Right now, Harry was making his way down to the Forbidden Forest, map in hand and Vox still clinging to his back. Harry didn't know what was more annoying, the Eyrie, or his friend's constant questions?

Checking his watch, Harry noticed it was a little after six. _"Oh crap! I don't remember where I was supposed to meet her."_

"Try asking the hippogriff," Tagger suggested, pointing to Buckbeak who was lounging in front of Hagrid's cabin.

"Great idea!" Harry ran over to Buckbeak and bowed low as he neared. Buckbeak bowed as well from his sitting position.

"What brings you to me, fawn? Do wish to fly with me again?"

Harry shook his head. "Maybe later. Can you show me the spot in the forest where we met Kilian the centaur?"

Buckbeak cocked his head and got up, stretching a little. "Have you forgotten your sense of direction already?"

Harry only nodded.

"Very well, come along. You are like a Saildor."

"What?" Harry asked, completely bewildered.

"Are you death? I said Salidor."

Harry had to cover a snort. "Don't you mean deaf, not death?" He just realized Buckbeak had said that when they first talked but didn't notice until now.

"That is what I said."

Harry smiled. "_I suppose Buckbeak can't pronounce f's or just doesn't know the difference," _he thought with amusement. "What is a Salidor?"

"A giant bird with great strength and hunting skills but are horrible at finding their way around. They are also quite tasty."

Harry rolled his eyes. They came to the small area and saw Kilian already there. She had her bow and arrow already out. She was practicing but paused as she saw Harry come out.

"Ah, so the human isn't a coward. That's good to know."

"And the centaur isn't practicing with poisoned arrows," Harry retorted back. "She learned her lesson. That's good to know."

Kilian snorted and pawed at the ground, a habit Harry was starting to notice. "So," she said suddenly, "what was with your hand from yesterday? Do tell."

From there Harry told her most of it. It was strange he had been telling strangers about his more personal things but wouldn't tell his friends or Godfather. He had come so close to telling Remus but pulled out. And he couldn't tell Sirius about his animagus form, not yet.

He was afraid he would receive that rejection Voldemort beat into his head. He didn't want to see Sirius's angry eyes when they found out he wasn't a stag. Harry wasn't his father, but he didn't know if Sirius knew that deep down. Harry was being selfish but couldn't help it.

"So that's about all of it about my tribe," Kilian said.

The two had been walking for a while, telling each other stories. Harry enjoyed Kilian's presence. She had also showed him around a bit of the opening of the Forbidden Forest. There were still miles and miles of forest but Harry felt he wasn't ready to go too deep just yet.

"That still sounds pretty cool," Harry said, kicking at some rocks. "A centaur hunt every three moons for all the males? That must be a crazy party."

This probably wasn't the best thing to say since Kilian scowled. "And of course the females are all left behind to cook and then clean up the mess."

Harry winced. "Sorry. Maybe with all that practice, I'm sure you'll be able to prove yourself as a great hunter."

Kilian straightened proudly. "That's what I plan to do. I show all those damn males – no offense Harry – that girls can be great with weapons as well."

Harry nodded, smiling encouragingly. He kicked at a random stone and watched it break in half. He blinked as a lime green stone shined up at him. He picked it up curiously. There were two pieces only about two inches big.

"You found some Citrine crystals,' Kilian said, inspecting a piece. "There are different magical crystals all over the place but they're usually hard to find."

Harry peered at it. "Magical crystals?"

Kilian nodded. "Yep. Some help with healing, whether it is mental or physical, or some give powers. I'm sure there are others but I don't know their properties."

"Really?" Harry asked curiously. "Here, you can have the second piece." He handed Kilian half of it. "Do you know what this crystal does?"

"It has magic in it. It gives something power. Perhaps you humans use it potions or some artifact?"

"Maybe…" Harry said quietly.

Kilian stretched silently. "Well, be seeing you. You're not so bad for a human."

"And you're the first centaur who hasn't said anything about Mars being bright tonight."

Kilian, who was walking away, called over her shoulder, "There are always other times to talk about the stars." She left.

Harry grinned and pocketed the green crystal. He felt the potion vial in his pocket and pulled it out. Harry stared at for a second before pulling his wand out. Following his nose, Harry smelled the scent of a rabbit. There was one in the bushes. A quick spell had its legs bound.

It squeaked in terror. "Sorry," Harry whispered and hit the rabbit with a cutting curse. Harry watched it bleed for a few minutes before healing its wounds as its breathing became less and less. Harry made sure only the wounds closed enough to not allow blood to flow out.

Uncorking the vial, Harry forced a quarter of the potion down its throat. Because of its weakened state, that wasn't a problem. Harry watched in fascination as the rabbit wiggled its nose and got to its feet as soon as the bindings were cut. When it drank a quarter it bounded off, far away from Harry as healthy as ever.

Harry stared at the potion in his hand. Huh, so the book was telling the truth. It hadn't tried to poison him or anything. Harry pocketed the potion and made his way back to Hagrid's hut. A smirk lit his face. That book really was worth it.

"Did you have fun, fawn?" Buckbeak asked as soon as Harry came in sight.

Harry nodded, smiling. "Yes, it was very interesting to have a civil conversation with a centaur."

Buckbeak just blinked. He sniffed Harry's pocket. "Something smells good."

Harry quirked a brow and pulled out the small crystal he found. "You want it?"

Buck chirped happily and took it out of Harry's hand and buried beside a rock. Harry noticed there were a few other items as well. "Another shiny to go with the others," Buckbeak informed.

"Ah." With that, Harry left the happy hippogriff, making his way up to Hogwarts. Things would have been a bit better if Vox didn't fly back to him, landing on his back with a happy screech. Harry didn't dare try to get the annoying creature off his back as he walked through Hogwarts doors.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Poke.

Poooke.

Poooooooke.

Harry's eye twitched.

Pooooooooooooke.

"Cut it out!" Harry roared at last. This received some odd stares from his friends. They were eating dinner and Vox sill hadn't left Harry. To Harry's horror, Vox had found a fun game to annoy Harry with.

Vox poked Harry once again with his beak. Frustrated Harry grabbed his knife, preparing to stab the demon.

"Harry no!" Remus grabbed him, prying the knife out of his hand.

"Remus!" Harry fought against the hold. "This little monster is driving me crazy!"

"You're just going to have to put up with him, Harry," Remus said. "Where on earth did you find him anyway?"

Harry scowled. "I saw him in Diagon Alley. Stupid thing landed on me, Hedwig came by, hooted something and flew off, Vox following her."

"What shop, Harry?" Hermione asked, genuinely curious.

Harry rubbed his head. "I dunno. I was walking in random shops. I even found a trinket shop that I had never been in before." Ok, so Harry was lying under his breath, but like he could tell them the store. He couldn't even remember… Oh yea, it had no name. Better not tell them that.

"Maybe you can sell it," Ron suggested with a mouth full of turkey.

Harry wrinkled his nose in disgust. His sense of smell still needed getting used to but it wasn't as bad as before. However, that gravy was just a bit much.

"I doubt anyone would be willing to buy this little demon," Harry said icily.

Ginny leaned closer, examining Vox. "I think he's cute." She reached out to pet Vox but jerked her hand back as he snarled. "I take that back, he's horrid," Ginny said angrily.

Vox just chirped happily and snuggled against Harry's shoulder. Hedwig took that moment to fly in, landing on Harry shoulder. She hooted soothingly at him.

"Hey, girl," Harry said, handing her some of Ron's turkey.

"Hey!" Ron protested.

"For my beautiful girl," Harry said happily, handing her some more of Ron's food.

"Harry!" Ron pulled his food away as Harry and Hermione laughed.

"Yes, Ron?" Harry asked innocently, grinning. He tickled Hedwig a bit under the wing. She took pleasure in it and ran her beak through Harry's hair, combing it. "Thanks, girl."

"Harry," Hermione started, "what did you do today after lunch?"

Harry frowned, wondering why she asked. "I was reading."

Ron looked horrified. "Why?"

"Don't you remember what I said earlier? I plan on learning as much as I can. No more sliding by."

"But who's going to slack off with me?" Ron asked, pretending to be seriously hurt.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Mr. Potter," McGonagall's voice greeted them.

Harry turned to his professor. "Yes, professor?"

"The Headmaster has something to tell you."

Harry tapped the table with his fingers. What on earth could he want now? "Do you know what he wants to talk about?"

"I am sorry, Potter, but Albus say's it has to do with only you two.

Harry sighed and got up. "Got it, professor." He turned to Hedwig. "You gonna stay here, girl?"

Hedwig tilted her head before tightening her talons on his shoulder.

"What about you, Vox?" Harry asked the Eyrie. His jaw dropped as he saw Vox sound asleep on his back, his grip still as tight as ever. Harry swore silently. McGonagall eyed him sternly.

Grinning lightly, Harry ran off to the Headmasters office. He ignored Snape's snide remarks and Sirius's call.

Harry came up to the stone gargoyle, pleased that it wasn't blocking the entrance. He did not want to waste time coming up with ridiculous passwords.

"Ah, Harry," Dumbledore said as Harry entered. He was facing the window. Harry resisted the urge to scowl.

"Headmaster," Harry acknowledged. No point in being rude and childish.

Fawkes sang a happy note and flew onto Harry's other shoulder. Harry playfully sighed sadly. "I guess all I'm good for is a magical creature perch."

Dumbledore turned look at Harry, but still didn't look him in the eye. He smiled, blue eyes sparkling. "It seems you are becoming well liked by many creatures, Harry."

Harry smirked. If only he knew.

Dumbledore sat down behind his desk. "Have a seat, Harry."

Harry did so. He felt a little uncomfortable sitting in front of the Headmaster with Vox sound asleep on his back, Hedwig preening his hair, and Fawkes rubbing against his cheek. Harry blushed. He was grateful to the animals for giving him attention like this, but it was rather embarrassing when he was trying to talk with the man who Harry was trying to prove he was an adult and didn't need to be cuddled.

"Let's get straight to the point, Harry." Harry nodded in agreement. "Your relatives wish to relieve you with some information."

Harry quirked a brow. The Dursley's give him information? Yea, maybe when hell freezes over.

"They will be at Private Drive tomorrow, packing all of their possessions to take with them to the new home they have been given. They want you over. I believe they said they had something of utmost importance to tell you."

Harry snorted. Like hell they did. They only wanted him over there so he could do all the heavy lifting for them. Harry sighed. Ushering the two birds off his shoulders, Harry said, "What time will I be leaving?"

"9:00 A.M tomorrow. There will be guard members outside your house."

"Ah."

There was an uncomfortable silence between them.

Harry let his eyes travel down to the manacle. He almost laughed out loud. He had actually forgotten about the dumb thing. With all that happened, his attention had turned elsewhere. His eyes burned with anger. If he hadn't been so foolish…

He could have bought some books while at Knockturn Alley or even Diagon Alley! He felt like pulling out his hair. He was so angry he didn't even notice a few items start to shake.

"Harry." Harry looked up. Dumbledore looked him straight in the eye. It was only a second, but in that split second, Harry felt complete and the utmost hatred towards this man.

"Yes, sir?" His voice was strained. He longed to scream, claw, and tear at this man. Harry took a deep breath and suddenly shivered with horror. Why was he thinking stuff like this?! This was Albus Dumbledore, the man who had already done so much for him.

So why was he…?

"You may leave."

Harry nodded, walking out quietly. Down the stairs, out the hall, into the common room and inside his trunk, Harry beat his training dummy and punching bag to a pulp. He was aware of the electricity sparking off him every few moment. He reveled in it. It was the power he was starting to like. The way it made him feel, but it also scared him. He did not want to imagine what would happen if left uncontrolled.

That was why, after reading for hours until Ron fell asleep, Harry snuck back into his trunk to read 'Magic, Control and Elements.' That was the hardest night Harry ever had to endure. Aside from reading the whole book and just trying to meditate, Harry suffered from a terrible migraine. Voldemort was angry.

How could he survive like this every night? The thought wasn't as hard as actually doing it. No sleep… at least not for a long time. Harry sighed as the clock ticked past 4:00 A.M.

Someone get the caffeine.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sorry if this seems a bit rushed. I wanted to get it done before the big 06 turned into 07! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please leave lots of reviews!

I know some people offered to Beta and I can't get a hold of you anymore! TT The messages were deleted. Also, as sad as this is, finals are coming up fast. (I know! Already?! WTF?) And I'm already doing horrible with grades and really need this month and a half to really study. I promise to update as soon as possible.

Review! And I have sneak peaks!

1. A mysterious package in the attic. (I know cliché.)

2. Letter from Gringotts!

3. An electric butterfly?

4. Twin business. (Maybe)


	10. stuff

Hey everybody! Thank you so much for the reviews! Emeralde thanks for the cookie! Again! Yay!

Hope you all enjoy this chapter. 2006 will be ending soon and that will the start of a new year!

- - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry panted hard, just finishing his second lap around the lake. The morning air was cool, allowing him to deal with his hot body. Collapsing on the ground, Harry breathed out, watching a few blades of grass blow with the wind.

"C'mon, Harry!" Tagger called. "You can do one more."

Harry groaned and turned toward the excited dragon. "Like hell I can. I'm exhausted, and these rings take a lot out of me as well."

Tagger grumbled. "Fine, but I expect you to do two laps tomorrow at a faster pace. I'll only excuse you because it's your first day getting used to everything."

Harry grinned in gratitude. "You know, I think I learned more things last night than in my entire life at Hogwarts."

Tagger cocked his head. "Really?"

Harry nodded, bouncing up and down, no longer breathless. "Yes, thanks a lot for teaching more about dragon fighting. The books I read really helped a lot as well. I can't believe I'm already learning about this electricity thing I have!"

Harry spun in a circle, almost like an overexcited puppy. Tagger flew up to Harry when he lifted his hand. Concentrating on bad thoughts, Harry's anger increased as he thought about Cedric, Dumbledore, anything bad. He smirked as he felt his magic spark.

His hand glowed yellow, sparking with electricity and lifted up and away from is hand, forming a small ball. The small ball of yellow electricity expanded and lengthened, turning into a small butterfly.

Harry grinned at his creation. The electric butterfly flew around his head a few times before dissipating into thin air. He could only keep it up for a few minutes and could only call upon this strange magic when he was angry. For now, all he could do was improve. Maybe he should show the others? Would they be angry he couldn't control his magic?

Harry thought this over before shrugging. Checking his pocket watch, he knew he had two hours before nine. Seeing Buckbeak sound asleep near a small pile of pumpkins, Harry walked over toward the sleeping hippogriff.

Harry leaned down; face only inches away from Buckbeak's. Smirking, Harry blew softly on Buckbeak's ear hole. Buckbeak squirmed. Harry, still smirking, was about to blow a little harder when one large claw grabbed him and forced him under Buckbeak's heavy body.

Harry struggled, trying to breath with the huge weight on him. Buckbeak, still asleep, cooed softly. "Mejfbak!" Harry shouted, finally just deciding to bite the sleeping hippogriff.

Buckbeak flew up with a loud squawk, wondering what on earth attacked him. Buckbeak, finally noticing Harry panting and laying on the ground, trotted over to him. Buckbeak picked Harry up the back of his shirt and tossed him away and out of his spot.

Harry picked himself up weakly off the ground. "Uhg, did you have to do that?" Harry asked, rubbing his head.

Buckbeak snorted angrily. "For waking me up like that, then yes." Buckbeak laid down, head resting on his claws. "What is it that you want?"

Harry moved closer. "Can you give me some more flying lessons?"

"More? You woke me up with a bite just to fly?"

"Er, yes?"

Buckbeak stared at him. "Is that a question?"

Harry shook his head. "Please teach me to fly right now," he begged.

Tagger rolled his eyes. "Pathetic," he declared.

Buckbeak yawned. "Very well, but do not awake me like that again."

Harry nodded happily, jumping up onto to Buckbeak. Taking off, Harry watched their reflection in the lake, admiring the clear blue water. When they reached the top of the cliff where they had first gone to, Harry decided to get started.

"Remember, a fawn can only fly with a clear head and true determination," Buckbeak said, watching Harry intensely.

Harry nodded.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ron yawned widely as he got up and stretched, looking over to his best mate's bed. His jaw nearly dropped as he saw it once again empty. He checked the clock and saw that it was 8:40. What time was Harry waking up?

Ron frowned, remembering Harry had left early the other day too. Groaning as he popped his back, Ron rolled out of bed, practically hitting his face as his tired body still wasn't registering what he was doing.

Ron walked over to Harry's bed. If it wasn't so messy, he would have thought Harry hadn't even gone to bed at all. He shrugged that off, remembering Harry reading in his bed last night. Ron shuddered, silently moaning his best friend's new resolve to start studying. It was bad enough with just Hermione.

Stretching a little more, Ron got dressed and made to go down to the Common Room, pausing as he saw something in the corner catch his eye. It was Harry's trunk, only it wasn't Harry's. Curious, Ron moved closer, inspecting the strange trunk. He felt the wood, eyes widening at the smoothness.

Did Harry buy a new trunk? Wouldn't he have seen it when Harry unpacked? Ron frowned a little. Actually, he hadn't even seen Harry unpack. His frown deepened as he wondered about Diagon Alley, wondering where Harry had gone off to. Harry had seemed happy, relaxed even as he met them in the Leaky Cauldron.

And what was with Harry's new look? Was he trying to imitate Tonks, that crazy auror? Ron shook his head as he tried to open the new trunk, curious about what was inside.

"Ow!" Ron cursed silently as he received a small shock. He looked at the trunk with new appreciation. Harry must have paid quite a bit to get a trunk with spells. Ron's resolve to open the trunk tripled as he realized Harry was trying to hide something. Grinning gleefully, Ron tried to open the trunk again. He did this three times, each receiving a small shock.

He finally gave up as his arms went numb. Muttering about stupid secrets, Ron walked down the flight of stairs, running into Hermione who was just about to leave, probably going to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Hello, Ron," Hermione said cheerfully.

"Hey, Hermione," Ron returned, glancing at some of the books she as holding. Hermione blushed.

"It's good to get ahead, you know, especially since O.W.L's are coming up."

Ron rolled his eyes.

"So where's Harry?" Hermione asked, looking toward the stairs as if Harry would come join them at any second.

Ron shrugged. "No idea. His bed was empty when I woke up."

Hermione looked shocked. "How early did he wake up?"

"My thoughts exactly." Ron sighed. "Maybe he's eating breakfast right now. Want to head down to the Great Hall? I'm hungry."

Hermione shook her head, smiling. "You're always hungry, Ron."

But Ron was already gone, running through the portrait hole. Hermione sighed and jogged to catch up.

Upon reaching the Great Hall, Hermione came to a stop as she saw a very tired but cheerful looking Harry sitting at Gryffindor table, eating some fruit. Ron had joined him and, by Harry's look of irritation, was demanding to know where he had been in a loud voice.

"Ron," Harry said quietly as Hermione sat down, "I told you. I was outside with Buckbeak."

"You used that excuse yesterday," Ron said, glaring at Harry.

Harry popped a strawberry into his mouth. "It's not an excuse. I really was outside playing with Buckbeak. He flew me around the lake." Harry sighed, thinking about his flying lesson. Things hadn't exactly gone well. There was absolutely no wind to help him glide up.

All he could was spread his wings and glide down, slowly reaching the water. Flapping his wings made him fall. So instead, for then next hour and a half, Harry practiced wing movements and listened to Buckbeak tell stories. To say his back was just a little sore was an understatement.

"Buckbeak went flying with you?" Hermione asked, looking a little green.

Harry laughed at her look. "I see you still remember riding Buckbeak in third year."

"And it's something I plan to never do again," Hermione told him, helping herself to some eggs and toast.

Harry tilted his head and Hermione was startled by how much he reminded her of a bird. "Wanna make a bet?"

Hermione furrowed her brow, looking to see if Ron knew what he was talking about but was eating at a ridiculously fast pace. "What do you mean?"

Harry smiled, eyes sparkling with mischief. Hermione had to fight the urge to grab him by the neck and bring him closer, just to study why he was so happy.

"I bet you'll ride Buckbeak again someday."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You're out of your mind, Harry Potter."

Harry just grinned and stood up. "Well, I'll catch you guys later."

"Where are you going?" Ron asked, frowning a bit.

Harry looked a little troubled before hiding his discomfort. "I have to, er, go to the Dursley's. They wanted to tell me something."

Ron's frown deepened. "You mean they just want you to pack up their stuff for them."

Harry shrugged. "Yep."

"But, Harry!" Ron was about to protest but Harry walked away.

"I'll see you guys later, ok?"

Ron just looked at Hermione who looked both angry and disappointed.

Harry made his way up to Headmasters office. He dragged his feet, groaning a little. He was tired, not that he would tell anyone that. The stupid potion could only be brewed at night and took three days for it to finish. Harry was glad P was there to help him.

Last night had been very educational and a lot of fun, but when school came…Harry didn't want to think about it.

Besides brewing part one of the potion and learning a bit more about dragon fighting, Harry had spent an hour practicing is aim by throwing his new weapon, shuriken, at a target. Those were basically the only physical activities he did. He had practiced meditating (and failed) and reading books.

"Don't be so down, Harry," Tagger said, flying through a suit of armor. "You're so impatient."

Harry shot Tagger a look that said, 'And you're not!?'

Tagger just stuck out his tongue before flying up ahead.

Harry sighed and entered the Headmasters office. How many times had he been here before school even started? Harry cracked a smile as he saw Tonks wink at him. She had bright pink, spiky hair, blue eyes, and several punk clothes.

"Hey, Harry," Tonks said happily. "Looks like we're off to the muggles."

Moody growled next to her. "This ain't some picnic, Potter. Constant vigilance. Remember that."

Harry nodded more to appease the old auror. Harry noticed that Dumbledore was nowhere in sight but Fawkes was on his perch. The phoenix gave a chirp that filled Harry with warmth.

Harry took the small band that Moody gave him, a slight feeling of dread going throughout his body, making his blood run cold. He would probably never fully get over Portkeys.

3…2…1

The familiar tug made Harry gasp, his stomach tightening with worry. A few seconds later he landed in a heap in the Dursley's house. Harry only recognized screaming as he picked himself up from the ground.

"Vernon! Vernon!" Petunia Dursley screamed, causing Harry to wince at the loud voice.

Vernon came down the stairs, causing them to groan in protest at his loud entrance. "Boy!" His eyes darted to his wife. "What did you do to Petunia?"

Harry stood up straight. "Nothing," he said honestly. "She just freaked out when I appeared."

Vernon narrowed his eyes. "What did you do to your hair, freak?"

Harry frowned.

Vernon started mumbling about good-for-nothings and helped Petunia into the kitchen. Harry just stood there, wondering what to do. "Boy! Get in here!"

Harry sighed as he heard his Uncle's call. Entering the kitchen, he noticed Aunt Petunia sipping some tea, her eyes darting with paranoia. Harry felt pity. His Uncle was covered in a few scars. Although barely noticeable, the memories would still be there.

Uncle Vernon leaned close to him. "Listen here, boy. I should strangle that little neck of yours for what your kind did to me and my family. But because your Aunt is so kind, she decided that you can help us with moving the boxes outside. After that you'll never lay one foot on our doorstep."

Harry nodded coldly. He glanced at Au… no, Petunia. They were no longer relatives.

Vernon sneered and tossed him some papers. "Your emancipation papers. Now you can never darken my family again."

Harry grinded his teeth. He picked up the papers and felt a jolt. He frowned. His magic wasn't sparking. No, this was different. Sighing, Harry pocketed the papers. "What do you want me to do?"

Vernon's eyes glinted. "Start taking all the boxes from the basement to the car. After that, I want you to run down to the market and buy some more boxes and some wood. I'll think of some more things when you get back. All that's left is Dudley's room, the attic and a few other things."

Harry nodded and walked down to the basement, eyes squinting as he got used to the light. It didn't take long. In fact, he could see perfectly. He grinned. Dragon eyes were awesome.

The work was a little hard, but Harry figured it would be good exercise. The boxes were so full they were practically overflowing with broken or unwanted items. A few items that were important were in glass cases or other such means of protection. Harry just did the work mechanically, going up and down the stairs.

It took an hour to finish the basement. Harry wasn't even allowed the luxury of water as he was practically thrown out of the house to get the items Vernon told him to get. Harry felt himself being followed and knew that Tonks or Moody was under an invisible cloak.

He sighed. It was more than he deserved, he supposed. It _was_ his fault that the Dursley's had been targeted like that. Voldemort had been after him, not them.

Harry blew those thoughts away and bought the supplies his ex-Uncle wanted. He couldn't stop himself from buying some colored pencils for his sketchbook. Harry walked past a few shops, stopping in front of the old pawn shop.

"I should go in," he whispered to Tagger. "I have my wallet and I might find something interesting again."

Tagger agreed whole heartedly.

Harry walked up to the door and pulled, frowning a bit as it didn't budge. Pressing his head up close to the glass, Harry noticed the shop was completely empty. Harry shot a look at Tagger. How could the store be empty? He was just here a few days ago.

Trying the door one more time, Harry was surprised it actually opened. The shop was completely bare, save for a small table in the corner. Harry peered around the empty shop. What had happened to it?

Harry walked in, closing the door behind him so his watchers wouldn't follow. He frowned at the thought. "Hello?" he called out.

There was no answer.

"Hey, Harry!" Tagger called. "Check this out."

Harry walked over to the lone table. There was a book with a small note attached. Curious, Harry read what it had to say.

_Lad, I knew you'd come back. I also knew you'd need help. This book is for you. Don't worry about the cost. Just pay me back when we see each other. Don't give me any looks of disbelief either. _

_P.S. There is more than just Knockturn and Diagon Alley. Look for me there._

Harry stared at the note. What had the old man meant? He obviously knew Harry was coming back and left this here. The question was why? What did he mean about there being more than two Alleys?

Harry picked up the book and opened it. A black feather fell out. Picking up the feather, Harry could only stare at it in curiosity and confusion.

"Weird," Tagger commented.

Harry nodded in agreement. Flicking through the pages, his eyes widened at the spells in this book. He slammed the book shut. These were some heavy duty spells. Most of them were Japanese spells. Harry had never heard of Japanese spells.

Harry sighed, putting the feather and note back in the book and placed it in a bag. He would find out if there were more Alleys later. Rushing out of the store and getting back to the Dursley's, Harry couldn't help but wonder why the old man wanted him to have this book.

"Took you long enough," Vernon grunted, as Harry entered the house.

"A long line," Harry lied. He grabbed his items and a few boxes, taking them up to Dudley's room where he was required to put all the broken items in. Harry glared as he saw his fat cousin sitting on the sofa, eating a burger. Dudley smirked at Harry.

Resisting the urge to snort at his cousins' pathetic smirk, Harry took a good look around the fat lards room. "They buy all this crap for him and can't even give me a new shirt or two?" Harry shook is head.

How much had the Dursley's paid for Dudley? Dudley had almost everything a kid could ask for. Of course, almost everything was broken and was no real use. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, Harry stared tossing some lamps and a few books into a box. The books were untouched and unopened, seeing as how Dudley had never read anything in his life.

Harry checked a few titles to see if any sounded interesting. There was one about law and business. Harry supposed Vernon had given it to his son. Perhaps to continue Grunnings? Harry kept that book and put it in the corner with strange Japanese book.

Broken DVDs and a few non-broken things made their way into the box. Harry was moving so mechanically that he wasn't paying much attention to anything.

"Harry!" Tagger yelled.

Harry's eyes widened in horror as he accidentally knocked Dudley's glass trophy to the ground. His eyes were wide as he saw it fall and shatter. It was the first trophy Dudley had won when he first started boxing. Vernon would beat him so bad for that.

Without thinking, Harry whipped out his wand and whispered, _"Reparo." _Harry sighed in relief as the trophy was fixed, looking better than it did only moments before.

Harry sighed. "That was…Oh my god! I just used magic outside of Hogwarts! The Ministry will find out and remove my wand for sure!"

"Maybe we should run for the hills?" Tagger joked, trying to get Harry to calm down.

Harry wasn't listening. Instead, he just stared out the window, waiting for a Ministry owl to come. Five minutes passed by and there was no owl. Another ten flew by and still no owl.

"Did they…are they not?" Harry rambled. Curiously, he pointed his wand at the broken alarm clock. _"Reparo."_

The clock was fixed, no longer cracked. Harry looked back out the window. Minutes passed by and no owl came. Harry and Tagger looked at each other, grins on their face.

"My emancipation…" Harry started

"…must have given you all legal adult rules!" Tagger finished.

They both started laughing. They only stopped when Vernon yelled at him to hurry up.

"I can't believe this," Harry said.

"I know," Tagger said. "You can actually do magic outside of school now." Tagger turned toward Dudley's old stuff. "They were going to have you throw out the broken stuff, why not just keep it?"

Harry smiled slyly. "Why not indeed?"

Harry now separated the boxes into three groups. The first one held all broken items Harry didn't want. The second held all the items that weren't broken. And the third Harry would put all repaired items.

Harry tossed the last of the non-broken items into the box and glanced around the room. Going over to Dudley's desk, Harry pulled out a few handheld games. Rolling his eyes, Harry tossed them into the box of unwanted stuff. There was a playstation2 that he fixed, putting it into his own box.

Why shouldn't he get a chance to play with some normal kid stuff? He wanted to experience all kinds of things before he died. That was something Tagger had taught him.

"Oooh, Harry!" Tagger called excitedly. "Here are all his games!"

Harry walked over to the large stack of CDs and videogames. Harry had to repair almost every single one of them. Either they had been broken when Dudley lost, or Dudley just wanted his parents to buy him more stuff.

Harry carefully put all the CDs in the box. A few he really liked, having listened to them on the radio. Looking around for a CD player, Harry nearly scowled as he found three. He kept the silver one with a clear blue top. Harry admired it.

"_This must have been expensive." _Harry turned it upside down on saw the price still on the back. His eyes widened. _$55 for a CD player! They could have given me some decent food or clothing but nooo! They just give their fat son more than he needs."_

Harry checked the games. None sounded that interesting. Most were alien invader games or some war game. A few he did keep, such as racing games, and some where he could steal the cars and run from the cops.

"Keep this one," Tagger called, pointing to a game. Harry read the title and laughed. Spyro the Dragon. Oh yea, he would definitely keep that one.

Looking around for anything else, Harry just tossed the rest into the boxes the Dursley's wanted. The last item, however, caught Harry's eye. Crammed under Dudley's bed, Harry pulled out a laptop.

Harry frowned. How many had that fat oaf had? This laptop was in horrible condition. A few letters were missing on the keyboard and the glass had several cracks. The mouse looked like it had been thrown against the wall. The wires that charged the computer were still in good condition.

Peering under the bed, Harry grabbed the missing letters that were lying on the floor. He also found the manual. Dust and cobwebs covered the unopened book. Harry placed the laptop on the bed and cast a quick repairing charm, watching the missing letters reattach themselves, and the large crack disappear.

Harry put the laptop and manual into his box. He had no idea what he would do with it. He didn't even know what you could do with one besides playing games. Besides, Hogwarts didn't allow any muggle devices to play. The magic in the air disrupted the technology. Harry decided just to keep it and use it when he left school.

Shrinking the box and book, Harry pocketed them. Grinning, Harry levitated the remaining boxes down the stairs. His Aunt screamed as he saw what he was doing.

"Just what do you think you're doing?!" she hissed, her hand twitching. She sneered. "You're not allowed to do any of your freakishness outside of school."

Harry pointed his wand at her. Her eyes widened and she went quiet. Harry lost his grin. His eyes went cold. "Emancipation makes you legally an adult. As an adult, I am now entitled to do magic legally outside of school."

Petunia went white as Harry pointed his wand at her head.

"Why shouldn't I?" Harry growled. His eyes were glistening with unshed tears. "After all the abuse you and Vernon gave me, why shouldn't I?"

Petunia just whimpered.

"You have starved me," Harry said fiercely, "and have beaten me. You forced me into a cupboard and never gave me any decent clothes." Harry clutched the emerald necklace around his neck. Harry felt one wing close just a little bit.

"Again I ask," Harry said coldly. "Why shouldn't I?"

Petunia shook, tears falling freely. "Just like her," she whispered. "Going off to that school. Learning evil magic and who knows what else!" Harry stayed quiet. She pointed to the stairs. "In the attic is something from that…that woman. Take it and go."

Harry blinked. "From my mother?" He lowered his wand. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Just go!" Petunia closed her eyes, hugging herself.

Harry didn't look back as he walked up the stairs and pulled down the little ladder that allowed entry. Harry just sat in the middle of the attic, shaking with anger. All these years and not once did Petunia ever have the decency to tell him about his own _mother!_

Harry raked a hand through his hair. At first, he just wanted to scare his relatives. He wanted them to feel the same fear he felt as a child. He shook his head. Why did things have to be this way? As Harry's body stopped shaking, he noticed a small ball of electricity. He sighed as it transformed into a butterfly.

"I really need to work on that," Harry muttered. The electric butterfly flew towards the farthest corner before disappearing. Shrugging, Harry followed. A medium sized box sat in between two large ones. Blowing away the dust, Harry noticed the word, 'Potter.'

Harry took the box gently. His fingers longed to open it right then and there but he refrained. "Padfoot and Moony should see this," he whispered.

Exiting the attic, Harry went past his angry ex-Uncle. Petunia was in the kitchen and Dudley was still eating in front of the television. Snorting in disgust, Harry exited the house and made his way over to Moody. He could smell Tonks by the front door.

"I'm ready to go, Moody," Harry said, holding the box to his chest.

Moody took off his cloak but Tonks must have fallen down from shock. She ran over to them, a look of embarrassment. "You're supposed to be an auror," Moody growled. "What's the big idea with falling all over the place?"

Tonks, a little pink in the face, said, "Well, I was just so surprised that Harry found you like that and I just imagined the look on your face and fell down laughing."

Moody muttered under his breath. Looking around, he took out a small bottle. "Alright, hurry up now," he ordered.

Tonks and Harry each put their hand on it. Feeling the sudden jerk, Harry landed face down of the ground. Hearing a snort, Harry raised his to see Snape glaring holes at him

"My, My, Potter, not able to stand on two feet, are we?"

Harry scowled angrily. Reaching to pick up his box, Harry nearly snarled as it flew into the potions masters slimy hands.

"And what do we have here?" Snape tilted the box, sneering as he saw the Potter name on it. He turned to Dumbledore. "Perhaps we should take a look at what Potter has brought back with him. Do not forget the Dark Lord was in his house." His tone was implying that if Moldyvoldie had left something, Harry would have grabbed it.

"Give it back," Harry snapped. "That box has my mother's things in it."

Snape's face turned even uglier. "Are you daft? The Dark Lord probably left this box on purpose, knowing you would open it."

"Yes, I'm so sure Voldemort actually climbed up into the attic and put insane amounts of dust and cobwebs on it just so I might, by chance, find it," Harry said sarcastically.

"Serverus," Dumbledore said sternly.

"No, Albus," Snape said, his black eyes glinting with disgust. "This is something the Dark Lord would do. With Potter's thickhead, he would bring some untold danger into this school."

Harry looked at the Headmaster pleadingly but the old man didn't even look at him. Harry looked around the room, hoping there were others but no one else was in the room.

"Serverus does have a point," Dumbledore admitted.

Harry felt his heart sink. Even Moody was staring at the box as if it would explode. "This box has my mother's things in it! Even Aunt Petunia said so."

"Could've been confounded," Moody muttered, moving toward the box.

Harry shook. "Sir!" He turned back to the Headmaster.

"We'll get it back to when we are sure it contains no Dark objects, Harry."

Harry looked around wildly. Not even thinking, Harry pointed his wand at the box. _"Accio!" _The box shot out of Snape's hands and into Harry's. Catching the box, Harry ran out of the room, ignoring the angry calls.

Jumping down the staircases, Harry quickly shrank the box and pocketed it safely. Now he could run a bit easier. Ignoring Snape's yells from behind, Harry quickly canceled the rings. He grinned, noticing his pace pick up just a bit. He was definitely improving.

His nose twitched as he smelled a strange scent. He paused. His eyes widened as realized a teacher, namely McGonagall, was making her way down the hall. Turning the other way, Harry just missed Snape fire a spell.

Running even faster, Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes. Who needed an enemy when your teacher tries to do you in? Managing to avoid several hallways with people, Harry ran toward Buckbeak who was near the lake.

Harry could hear Snape far behind and knew Moody must have joined him. Harry was thankful none of his friends were here to witness him being chased. If this was his protection, he didn't want to see the enemy's.

"Buckbeak!" Harry called. Buckbeak looked up, annoyance on his face. He still hadn't forgiven Harry for earlier but he lost his irritation as he saw Harry's face.

Buckbeak could also smell fear coming from the young fawn. Bending down, Buckbeak allowed Harry to jump on his back. "Where to?"

"Anywhere," Harry panted. "Away from the others. Somewhere they can't get me but close enough to get back."

Buckbeak nodded and took off. The two just noticed Snape and Moody shoot out through the doors, looking around. Harry sighed and hugged Buckbeak's neck. Moody had been chasing him because of paranoia. Harry didn't blame him, especially with what happened last year. Snape was different. He just wanted to make Harry's already miserable life even worse.

Buckbeak didn't say anything as flew over the mountains. He flew for half an hour before making his descent. Harry, who was still hugging Buckbeak's neck, noticed they were landing near some rocky beaches. The forest stood next to it. Buckbeak landed, legs moving through the water as he led Harry toward a berry bush.

"Eat," he told Harry.

Harry just nodded and ate a few berries. Harry didn't know what they were but loved them anyways.

Buckbeak curled around Harry as he settled down. Harry took out his box and put it in front of him.

"All this worry for a square thing?" Buckbeak asked, nudging the box.

Harry smiled. "This has my mother's things in it," he told Buckbeak. "Snape – the greasy human – thinks it has some dark artifact." Harry laughed, imagining Voldemort climbing through his attic and arranging the dust and cobwebs.

Buckbeak nodded. "A mother's treasure." Buckbeak cocked his head. "Will you not open it?"

Harry nodded. "I wanted to do it with Sirius and Remus, but I think I'll do it now."

Opening the box slowly, Harry let his hand wander over the items he saw. He smiled, eyes refusing to cry but still glistened brightly. There were a few journals that were titled, 'Life at Hogwarts.' Harry smiled and opened the first one.

_Dear Journal,_

_I'm actually on the Hogwarts Express! Oh boy was Petunia jealous. There was a cute boy on the train who caught her eye but I don't see what was so special about him. Anyways, things would have been perfect if I hadn't run into this one boy. His name was John or James. Something with a J._

_The first thing he did was smile at me before laughing and screaming for the entire train to hear that my hair looked like a carrot. The nerve! As long as he's in a different house and I never have to see him again, that's fine with me._

The first page ended and Harry laughed, remembering Remus told him about that. Smiling, Harry put the journal back into the box. Pulling out a small rectangular box, Harry opened it and nearly gasped. Inside was a wand.

Lifting it carefully, Harry's eyes shined as yellow sparks burst out of the tip. Seeing a small note inside the box, Harry read what it had to say.

_Harry, I am sorry to say that if you have found this wand, I am dead. This box was charmed to teleport my wand into it if I died. This box holds all of my treasures that I would have liked to share with you. The box is charmed to ensure Petunia or anybody else doesn't throw it away._

_I love you so much,_

_Lily._

_P.S. Mother_

This time Harry couldn't stop a few tears from dropping. Running a hand over his mother's wand, he put it back in the case. Looking around, he noticed a few other journals. A few were empty but had a note to tell him to start his own journal so that he could share it with his children one day.

The last item, down at the bottom, was a picture album. Harry lost it right then and there as tears fell freely. Not even Hagrid's album could compare to this. There were pictures of when his parents were just children, either scowling or smiling together. There were some pictures of the Marauders all together.

Harry flipped a few pages and saw his mum riding on his father's back when he was transformed into Prongs. Harry rubbed his eyes and felt them prickle a bit. He also felt his head prickle. Looking at his reflection in the water, Harry noticed his hair had lost the green streaks and his eyes no longer looked like they had contacts on.

Harry sighed. He would deal with that later. Sure he liked his hair, but he was too tired to deal with that. He could change his eyes back later. As if he could let anyone see his eyes with slits.

Yawning a little, Harry looked up as he heard a loud chirp. He noticed Vox fly toward him. Allowing the blue creature to land on his back, Harry didn't even feel any annoyance. He just let Vox snuggle against his back. Leaning against Buckbeak but making sure he wasn't too comfortable so that he fell asleep, Harry started to look at the pictures.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"How dare you attack my Godson like that!?" Sirius roared. Severus Snape just remained stoic as he watched Black continue to scream. "What if you had seriously hurt him? After all that's happened to him, you just attack him."

Remus was also very angry but was better at hiding it. "Harry just found out he has some of his mother's possessions and you just take it all away from him!" He glared icily at Snape.

Snape resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "If you two would stop acting like the thickheaded Gryffindor's that you are, you would realize that the Dark Lord could have left an artifact on purpose to trap Potter."

"You still had no right to attack, Harry," Sirius growled. He longed to hex Snivellus right then and there and the only reason he hadn't already was because Moony was holding onto his wand.

Dumbledore sighed, looking older. "Right or wrong, we still need to find Harry. Harry panicked when he realized he couldn't open his possession until later, afraid he would lose something that was his mother's. I'm afraid we didn't have enough time to explain why."

Snape snorted. "We warned the brat the Dark Lord could have left it behind but he decided not to listen to reason."

"Where can we find Harry?" Sirius asked, choosing to ask the Headmaster than to pick a fight with Snape.

Dumbledore stood up. "Unfortunately, Fawkes is refusing to lead us to Harry." Everyone in the room turned to glare at the Phoenix. Fawkes just gave them a smug look before preening his feathers.

"Can't we threaten him?" Sirius asked.

Remus rolled his eyes. "And do what? Phoenix's are reborn again and again."

"Damn."

"Everyone can search the hills by broom in a few hours," Dumbledore said. "He took off with Buckbeak but I'm sure he'll come back. We just need to give him some time."

"And if Potter actually finds a dark artifact?" Snape said.

"I am sure Harry would come back right away. He just needs some time."

They all dispersed, muttering as they exited the office.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry giggled as he saw one picture with his father and Godfather dressed in pink dresses. Apparently one of their pranks had backfired. That actually reminded him that he still hadn't checked his father's old desk. He would do that tonight.

Looking over at Hedwig, who had flown over to him a while ago (motherhen!) and smiled. Apparently Padfoot was on his best behavior if Hedwig could leave his side. He hadn't visited the little owl in a while now.

Stretching a little, Harry rubbed Buckbeak. The hippogriff was sound asleep, the sun hitting him right on the face. Looking up at the sky, Harry noticed a small dot flying toward him. Squinting, Harry could make out the outline of an owl.

Hedwig hooted with interest as the brown owl landed before Harry. For a moment, Harry was scared the Ministry was really going to snap his wand before noticing the Gringott's stamp. Sighing with relief, Harry opened the package and gave the owl a few berries. He opened the first letter.

_Mr. Potter,_

_I sincerely hope that you have taken the list I have given you to heart. I have been appointed your counselor and as such, I am here when advice is needed. Enclosed with this letter are your businesses and land. A blank piece of paper has been given to you as well. Since owls can be slow, just write your message and press the Gringott's symbol. Either another counselor or myself will answer your question._

_I trust that you will not abuse this privilege. Learn well about business and money if you want to succeed. If you have any questions, just remember to use the parchment._

_Griphook_

_Goblin I.D 1248Ad6 _

Harry looked at the blank parchment with interest. He would look at the list later tonight and write down some notes before asking his questions. His first response was to go to Remus and Sirius but a small voice in the back of his head told him not to.

Harry frowned in thought. He seriously wanted their support but he wanted to do this on his own. He wanted to prove to them that he could handle himself and that he wasn't a little kid. He could always go to Hermione. She knew everything.

But what if she started pestering him for some more personal questions? Would she tell the others? Harry sighed. He would ask her but not now. Who could he trust?

"Who can I trust, Tagger?" Harry asked.

Tagger, who was floated upside sown, righted himself. "For what?"

"For business."

"Oh, that's easy!" Tagger said, coming over to inspect Harry's letter. "The twins! They're opening a business so they must know some stuff."

Harry beamed. "That's a great idea! They would never reveal a secret either."

Tagger nodded, happy Harry was starting to get over his anger from earlier. "Why don't you check out what homes you have? I'm eager to see what you have."

Harry nodded. Turning to the other letters, Harry looked for the one that showed his homes.

One house in Australia. The directions and location was next to the description.

He owned a beach house in Hawaii and a small house in Africa. He had a farm that owned several magical creatures that were both rare and almost extinct in England. It was actually only an hour's drive from Gringotts. He also had a mansion in Brazil.

The last one was of course Godric's Hollow but that was destroyed. A small noted said that the Potter's house elves were taking care of each home.

Harry had to wonder how he could possibly get everything in order. He really needed to start reading up on law.

"Hmm, businesses can take over other businesses, right?"

"Huh?" Tagger asked.

"Businesses," Harry repeated. "They can take over others. And stocks. My gosh, actually listening to Vernon every night actually helped me."

Harry stood up and paced, staring at the lake. For a moment, he just thought in silence before transforming. Grinning and stretching his wings, he let the wind blow against them. Flapping them experimentally, Harry was disappointed he didn't lift off the ground.

Tail swinging back and forth, Harry thought about his predicament. "I'll need more money," Harry said thoughtfully. "I'll also be in a war against Death Eaters. Of course they aren't just normal Death Eaters, they're rich Death Eaters."

Tagger caught on and grinned. "You want to take over several businesses that really affect the Wizarding world."

Harry nodded. "And I can think of one family at the moment."

"Malfoy." They both said at the same time and laughed.

"I know that when one has 51 percent control over a business, it's basically yours. How should I do it and what will I buy? I should have enough money…I think."

"That's something you need to ask Griphook," Tagger advised.

Harry nodded, rubbing his long snout. Flapping his wings in both excitement and eagerness, Harry jumped over Buckbeak, causing Hedwig hoot at him.

"Hedwig!" Harry exclaimed cheerfully. "I think I might have an idea that will not only get me richer and build the buildings that I need, but to get some Death Eaters poor…er, poorer."

"Hoo hoo," Hedwig hooted. Harry licked his lips in anticipation. He transformed back but made sure his hair and eyes went back to the way they were before changing back.

He had only been here for forty minutes. He briefly wondered if the others would attack him on sight. He chuckled at Moody's paranoid glances. Perhaps he could have Buckbeak fly him up to Gryffindor Tower?

Harry was about to lean over Buckbeak but events from this morning stopped him. "Hey, Buckbeak," Harry said loudly. Lazy hippogriff, sleeping all day like that.

Buckbeak yawned, stretching his wings. He opened one eye. "Are you ready to go back?"

"Yes."

"If they attack, I will not land and take you away."

"Overprotective much?" Harry grinned.

Buckbeak just chirped and let Harry climb onto his back. Vox was still clinging to Harry and Hedwig flew off.

Buckbeak took off, dust and a few rocks flying everywhere. "I am not comfortable going back so early," Buckbeak informed.

Harry scratched Buckbeak on the side. "I know. Maybe if things are bad, you can fly me to the tower or something."

Buckbeak said nothing and just flew. They remained quiet for the rest of the flight. Upon reaching sight of the castle, they saw a few people on the grounds. He noticed Sirius and Remus by the lake. He saw them look up as he came nearer.

Buckbeak hovered uncertainly as the people noticed him. "Do you think they'll be mad at me?" Harry held his mother's box closer.

Vox wrapped his tail tighter around Harry. Harry looked at the Eyrie suspiciously. "Not trying to get on my good side by being nice, are you?"

Vox just bit his shoulder, cawing in triumph as Harry hissed.

Sighing, Harry nodded to Buckbeak. They got closer to the ground and landed in front of Sirius and Remus. "Harry!" Sirius ran up to him. "Snape didn't hit you, did he? Don't worry about what happened; we know it was all that slimy git's fault."

Harry smiled. He held out the box. "I…I think you guys would love to see this."

Remus and Sirius exchanged a glance. Remus smiled. "Of course, Harry."

Harry toed some dirt. "Is Snape still mad?"

"As mad as hell!" Sirius laughed.

"So I should definitely avoid him then?"

Sirius just laughed even harder and led the two into Hogwarts. Patting Buckbeak goodbye, Harry followed Remus. They managed to pass a few people without stopping and even managed to dodge Snape as they entered

By the time they all got comfortable; Ron, Hermione, and the twins joined them. They all looked at the pictures laughing at each one.

"Remember this one, Moony?" Sirius laughed, holding out a picture. Remus took a look and smiled as he saw James one trunk, three bags, several heavy books, and an umbrella.

"How could I forget? Lily made James carry all her things for him when one of his pranks hit her instead of that one fellow, Thomas I think."

Sirius chuckled. "Oh, Jamsie, you never were the best at thinking things through." He patted Harry on the shoulder and glanced at the one he was holding.

"That one's the school dance," he said. Harry looked up curiously. The picture he held had James on one knee in front of Lily who had her arms on her hips and a fierce glare on his face. It looked like he was giving her a ring with a huge gem. It had to be an inch long.

Remus smiled as he saw it too. "Yes, your father saw a muggle sweet called ring pops. He bought one, thinking they were real rings with an expensive gem on it or something."

Harry shook his head, smiling. "Didn't he wonder why it was so cheap? Or perhaps why it was in a candy shop?"

Remus shook his head as Sirius laughed even harder. "Like Sirius said, James never really thought things through."

"What's going on here?" Fred asked, pointing at a picture.

They all laughed as they saw James, Sirius and Peter in their animagus forms. Remus had taken the picture since he had gotten them all back for something they did to him. It looked like someone had poured large amounts of paint on the animals. Sirius was rainbow, sparkling different colors every now and then. The paint had obviously been magical.

James had his antlers painted blue while his body was green and his legs were red with purple spots. Peter was completely yellow.

Harry laughed and pointed. "Hey, Ron, you got a yellow rat."

Ron took a closer look and started laughing. "I can't believe it." He suddenly turned to Fred and George, glaring. "I can't believe you two gave me that fake spell!"

"It's not our fault you're so gullible," George defended.

Hermione smiled, shaking her head "Well, it was funny."

Ron and Harry turned to her before roaring with laughter.

"Funny? You practically made me deaf with all that scolding," Ron said, grimacing as if Hermione was yelling in his ear."

Harry smiled and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Really, Ron, are you sure that's a real spell?" Harry started laughing again but paused as everyone was staring at him. "What?"

Remus leaned closer to Harry. "Harry, you just spoke in Hermione's voice."

Harry blinked. "I did?" All he done was try to talk in a loud pitched voice. Something girly.

Fred and George practically squealed. "Do it again, Harry!" They both said at the same time.

Harry shook his head. "I do… I'll try." Harry pinched his nose again and said, "Really, Ron, are you sure that's a real spell?"

He turned to look at Sirius but he just shook his head. "Nope."

"See? Told you I couldn't do it."

Hermione shook her head. "No, I'm positive you sounded just like me. Perhaps you're a metamorphmagus, like Tonks?"

Harry 'hmmed' in thought. "Who knows?"

They were silent for a moment before Ron's stomach growled. He blushed. "So, who's hungry?" Ok, so now he was trying to change the subject but so what?

They all rolled their eyes and cleaned up. Ron and Sirius ran out right away. Remus, a little slower, followed them.

Harry smiled at Hermione. "I'm not really hungry right now. I'll catch up later after I put this away."

Hermione nodded and left. Fred and George had gone up to their own rooms to get something. As Harry was putting his mother's possessions and shrunken box of Dudley's old things in his trunk, he just realized something.

"I just remembered why the Ministry didn't notice me doing any spells," he said, slamming a hand to his forehead.

"How come?" Tagger asked.

Harry sighed. "Remember we asked Ollivander to remove the spells and tracking devices? That's why."

There was a heavy silence.

"Boy, are we dumb," Tagger grumbled.

"I blame it on you," Harry announced, ignoring Tagger's protest. "I've been hanging out with you for two long." Harry smiled teasingly and grabbed the list Griphook gave him and ran toward the portrait hole, hoping to catch Fred and George.

He managed to catch them just in time as they were about to exit through the portrait hole. "Fred! George!"

They both turned around, looking at Harry quizzically. "Yea, Harry?" They both asked.

Harry grinned at the two, mentally chuckling at how in sync the two were. "I wanted to ask you guys something."

Fred nodded. "Go right ahead."

"I wanted to ask you about your business."

George frowned in confusion. "We already told you that you were a life time partner. No use in trying to get yourself out of this."

Harry shook his head. "That wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about. I wanted to talk to you about actual business. Like the way it runs and stuff like that."

Fred and George beamed. "Hoping to be a full time employee as well?" George asked.

Harry grinned back. "Not exactly." He motioned for them to sit on the couch with him. "I need to know how to run a business, even learn how to take over some and how to fight back."

Fred turned serious and leaned close. "That's some pretty serious stuff, Harry. What do you have in mind?"

Harry took out the list and the letters. "When I visited my family vault, I learned I was in charge of some businesses." Harry opened the list and raised an eyebrow at some of the items. "I need to expand some and buy several stocks as well as control a few other businesses."

George and Fred, as serious as Harry had ever seen them, looked at what Harry owned.

Fred whistled. "Do you realize how much money you're making off those diamond mines? Must be thousands!"

Harry shrugged. "Hopefully more."

The twins looked at him questionably.

Harry turned very serious, his voices of that like a business manager. It actually surprised him he could talk like that. "What I say shall not be repeated to anyone else. Especially no adults."

Fred and George's eyebrows rose. "We promise," the two said.

Harry nodded. He handed them the list of items that he would try to open and create. "I want to make those."

The two read it with interest.

"A blood bank?" George questioned.

"And a werewolf hospital?" Fred asked.

Harry nodded. He could only remember a few of the items he had read but those were definitely something he wanted to construct. Harry took out some parchment and a quill. He drew two circles on opposite sides. One had a snake over it while the other had a quickly drawn bird.

"I want to offer some alliances," Harry said.

"Buy buying them off?" George asked, thinking deeply.

Harry tilted his head and thought about the question. "Maybe," he admitted. "Also, I think it's absurd that the Ministry doesn't properly take of everyone just because of a sickness or being different. I need allies but I also want to help them out. If I make some deals and build some of these buildings, we both get what we want."

Fred stared at the quick sketch. He suddenly grinned in understanding. "Do mine ears deceive me, or is little Harrikinns about to go up against Albus Dumbledore?"

Harry chuckled. "Not exactly, no." He drew a third circle. "I want to be the third party of this war. I'll help Dumbledore but he doesn't need to know much more."

George's grin equaled his brother's. "You want…"

"…a magical creature…" Fred said.

"…army," Harry finished. "If we can get different races to fight against Voldemort, maybe the world can see they aren't dark. We can help each other. Voldemort already has allies from most of the werewolves. We need to fight back."

George frowned. "But if Dumbledore and You-Know-Who already have their allies, how can you persuade them?"

"Better question, who are you going to persuade?" Fred asked.

Harry glanced at his hands before looking into their eyes. "Demons," he said simply.

"Demons?" they repeated.

Harry nodded. "Demons," he said with finality.

Fred stretched. "Well, good luck with that."

Harry rolled his eyes. "And this is where I need your help."

"Ours?" The twins looked at each other.

Harry nodded. "I already told you I needed to get more money to build these types of businesses and try to give them some new laws." He glanced at the paper and smiled. "Although I don't think I'll allow muggle hunting to be legal."

The two cracked a smile.

Fred nodded and searched the list for a specific one before marking it with his quill. Harry looked at what he wanted and frowned. "Job offers?"

Fred nodded. "If you can get creatures such as werewolves' jobs, they would support you no matter what. That will be a problem though. You would have to take that up with the Wizengamot. I suggest you do that after making a few deals and build up a strong case."

Harry nodded.

George peered at the list as well. "If you want more money, definitely buy more of the diamond companies. Although I wouldn't say no to that firewhisky company."

Harry laughed. "And here's another problem I'm about to add."

"Oh, what's that?" Fred asked curiously.

Harry's grin turned a bit sinister. "I want to take over several main businesses that Death Eater's are in control of."

Fred and George burst out laughing.

"You want to cut off their money supply?" Fred asked whipping a few tears away.

Harry nodded. "I need to read up on law and business first," he admitted, "but I'm pretty sure you two know quite a bit already."

They both nodded.

"Well, we'll give you some inside info," George whispered mysteriously as he beckoned Harry closer as if he was about to tell him a secret that could change his life forever.

"We needed a bit more profit," Fred said. "Don't think your money didn't help," he added. "George and I just needed some more money to actually buy a building, fliers and anything else to start our joke shop. We bought twenty percent of Zonko's jokeshop."

Harry's jaw dropped.

George nodded. "We know. We're already making a nice income. We had to spend those one thousand galleons you gave us. We also sold a few of our own joke supplies. Nothing big, mind you, but they really seemed interested. We managed to sell about thirty old items of ours. They gave us an extra five percent if we signed an agreement for no rivalries. We now own 25 percent."

"That means no stealing ideas and such," Fred supplied.

Harry blinked, clearly impressed. "Zonko's makes a lot of money. How are you guys doing?"

"Well, since it's the summer and we invested two days after you gave us the money, we've made about 946 galleons already. Apparently our items sold out the fastest." They grinned. "We had to open a private account. Mum doesn't know about it."

"And she won't not for a while," Fred warned.

Harry nodded in agreement.

"We figured by the time school ends, we would have enough to start the business," George concluded. "We already have a building in mind. It's an old empty one near the ice cream shop in Diagon Alley. Plenty of people always go by there."

"So it looks like you two are doing well," Harry said. They nodded. Harry rubbed his chin in thought. "Who do you two recommend that I contact first?"

The two looked at the list.

"And don't say the firewhisky company," Harry warned, rolling his eyes as they chuckled.

Fred pointed to the pyramids. "What's up with that?"

"My great-grandmother was from Egypt. She was adopted by some clans up there." Harry smiled. "They're still alive and run most of the gold in Egypt. They even supply Gringotts with gold."

"I suggest this one first," George said.

"Yea, family will definitely help," Fred added. "Hmm. To get a letter there at a good pace, you would need to get a sonic owl."

"A sonic owl?" Harry echoed.

"Yea. They're owls that are bred especially for long distant flights. They are super fast and can travel great distances. They aren't cheap but I think this will be worth it."

Harry nodded in agreement. "Where can I buy or rent one?"

"Well, they have that owl shop in Hogsmeade. We can sneak out later tonight if you want."

"That is, if you aren't scared."

Harry huffed. "Of course not. What time do you want to meet?"

"By the old witch's statue at 10:30. Everything closes at 11:00 so we need to hurry."

"We can use your invisible cloak!" George added brightly.

Harry smiled.

They returned to the list.

"Check out this werewolf thing two. I don't know what this Grim thing is, though."

Harry stared at George. "I think it's like the dog. You remember Trelawney making those predictions in my third year?"

The two erupted in a fit of giggles.

"Then send something to them as well. That goblin sent you all the names."

Harry looked over at the list Fred held. "Say's the guy in charge is called Kain."

"But here's a question for you," George said. "How do you plan on opening up these businesses? I know you want to expand or take care of the ones you already have, but where do you plan on the rest."

"Maybe a few in Knockturn Alley," Harry said thoughtfully.

"What!?"

Harry glared. "Not all the shops are full of Dark Arts, you know."

The grumbled a bit.

Harry pointed at the hospital and blood bank. "I think I have an idea for these two."

"What are you going to do?" Fred asked.

Harry folded his hands thoughtfully. "I'm going to have to find a doctor."

"You mean those muggle healers who stick needles in people?"

"Yes, Fred," Harry said, smiling at his look of horror. "I want to find one who knows all about the magical world. I don't care if he's a squib, muggleborn, whatever, just as long as he can help. Maybe he can find a way to do blood drives or something."

"What about blood potions?" George suggested.

"I thought about that," Harry told him, "but I don't know what their reaction would be. Do vampires even like potions? It all matters about our meeting."

"When do you plan to do this little meeting?" Fred asked.

Harry shrugged. "Well, I still need to come in contact with the businesses I'm already in. Not to mention the fact that I'll need to learn all about stocks. That's something I can't fail at. I remember learning about the Great Depression in the muggle world. It was when all the stocks went down and thousands of businesses went completely bankrupt."

Fred and George winced.

Harry nodded. "Yea." He smiled. "I can always ask Griphook some questions. You two have a counselor too, right?"

"No," Fred said, shaking his head. "Not many people get a counselor in business when you first start. It's mostly rich Purebloods who have them. The fact that you have a goblin as your counselor can leave a huge impact. You must have done something big to impress them."

Harry didn't think he did anything big and down right told them so.

"Oh well," George said, standing up and stretching. "Enough business talk. Let's get some lunch. You coming, Harry?"

Harry shook his head. "Not right now. With Snape still angry, no way am I risking my neck."

The twins just laughed, waving as they got up and exited the Common Room. Harry sighed, once again alone. Grabbing all of his papers, Harry went back into his room and into his trunk. Grabbing a butterbeer, Harry went into his library.

"What to look at it?" Harry said to himself. He took out the box that had all of Dudley's possessions that now belong to him. Enlarging it and levitating all of the items out of the box into an orderly manner, Harry left it all there. He went into the room with his father's desk after that.

He hovered above it uncertainly as he entered the room before sitting on the small chair he conjured.

"Which drawer should you open first?" Tagger asked.

Harry shrugged. "I think I'll start with the bottom one later. Right now, I just need to write a few letters."

Setting his blank pieces of parchment paper in front of him, Harry began to write both carefully and slowly. He paused every now and then to make sure what he wrote sounded not only professional, but still hinting that he didn't know a thing and would like to know more.

The only other letter that wasn't business wise was a quick hello to Ash and Kaz.

He wrote to Kain Louis about the Grim foundation, Raoul Bolts of the werewolf Center, and even wrote a letter to Ken Mathews about the Magical Creatures and beings protection agency.

Each letter was written in similar format with small changes for each one depending on what the business was. The next letter was a bit harder to write. He had no idea how he could write to this clan in Egypt. Would they even accept him? Biting down on his lip, Harry checked the names once more before writing.

_Dear Nybbas and Azael of the Egyptian dog and cat clans._

Harry stopped writing to see if that sounded ok and not too rude. When he couldn't think of anything better he started writing again.

_My name is Harry Potter. I have just recently come in contact with information about my family history. Forgive me if I sound ignorant, but that is what I am. I have just recently discovered that I still have living family, namely, you. I send this with the hopes of learning more about my ancestry and my Great-grandmother, Bennu Potter. I await your return letter._

Harry stopped writing. He honestly did not know what else to say. He didn't want to be too forward since he didn't even know them. Sighing, he folded the parchment. Putting all the letters in his pocket, he opened up the bottom drawer in the desk.

Pulling out a few journals and different joke items, he opened the journal, reading it with curiosity. He laughed as he finished reading one of the jokes his father and the Marauders had created.

There were a few spells that could make someone look like the opposite sex, grow ears on all parts of the body, and one that could levitate people upside down. Harry rolled his eyes. He looked at the items he pulled out. They were some of the older products from Zonko's that were no longer being sold. This would be something the twins would be interested in.

As much as it sounded nice to actually prank that slimy potions professor, Harry still had to keep studying. Sighing in regret, Harry left things as they were and headed back to the library, draining the last of his butterbeer.

Looking at the different titles, Harry randomly picked one. _"Hmm, 'A Guide to Wandless Magic.' That should be interesting,"_ Harry thought and started reading, collapsing on the couch.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Pss. Hey, Ron," Harry whispered even though neither were in bed. It was currently 10:25 at night.

Ron looked at Harry amused. "Yea, Harry?" he whispered back.

Harry grinned. "Want to sneak into Hogsmeade with me and the twins?"

Ron nearly choked. "To do what, exactly?"

Harry shrugged. "I need to rent a sonic owl. See, I found out I have some adopted relatives in Egypt. I kind of wanted to, you know; get in contact or something with them."

Ron jumped over to Harry's bed. "Did you really? I thought you the last of the Potters!"

"I am. It's just that, well, I don't really know." Harry gave Ron a smile. He still wasn't sure how much to tell his friend. Everything would be said eventually, but for now, secrets had to be made.

"That's, well…bloody hell!" Ron was a little shocked as Harry was laughing. "C'mon, we need to go now." Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak and The Marauders Map.

Ron, who was dressed in his P.J's, got dressed so fast Harry wasn't even sure Ron had moved. "Let's go!" he said excitedly.

Shaking his head, Harry followed Ron down to the portrait hole where Fred and George were already waiting for them.

"Ronnie's coming as well?" Fred said, glancing at his younger brother.

Harry nodded. "Let's go. We need to be quiet so the girls don't know."

They all nodded and, after checking the map, made a run for it toward the old witch statue and entrance to Honeydukes.

Looking around carefully, Harry muttered the password. They all scrambled inside the small tunnel.

"Do you think we can sneak some firewhisky?" Ron asked hopefully. He looked at Harry. "What about it, Harry?"

Harry shook his head. "Sorry, Ron. Maybe for our 16 birthday. Today I just need to deliver a letter." He patted his pocket. The others had already been sent with Hedwig earlier since the other three letters didn't need to travel far.

Ron pouted and Fred smirked at him. "Don't look so down, little brother. It's not like you could handle it."

"I could too!" Ron yelled. A yelling contest then commenced. Harry and George just shook their head and motioned for the other two to be quiet.

Fitting all four large boys, no matter what Ron said about Harry, was just a little more than being too difficult. They managed it and crept out of the shop, having to wait n the shadows when a young man moved past them.

"Phew, that was tough," George said, fanning himself a bit as they were safely outside and away from the few who were still out.

Ron nodded. "And I thought it was tough with just you, me and Hermione."

Harry agreed. They were very cramped under that small cloak. He lifted the cloak fondly. "I wonder what my dad used to do with this besides sneaking into the kitchens at night."

Ron just shrugged but Fred and George seemed to seriously contemplate this.

"Well, let's get this done with before the store closes," Harry said.

They all agreed wholeheartedly and jogged off toward the Post Office. They literally caught the man just about to pack up and go home. He grumbled a bit when he found out he had more customers so late at night but when he saw Harry his frown turned upside down. (I love that phrase.)

"What can I get ya?" he asked, referring to Harry.

Harry took out his letter. "I need to send this letter to Egypt. I don't know the exact location, though."

The man just nodded. "That's ok. When a magical owl is given a letter to deliver, the name and image pops into their mind, allowing them to know exactly who to go to."

Harry was surprised that carrier owls could do that. "That's pretty impressive."

"Yep, no other bird like an owl for mail. Of course, the pigeon wasn't so bad for the muggles." The man paused. "You'd be wanting a sonic owl, then?" Harry nodded. "Good, any other owl and it would have taken at least half a year for a round trip."

He went to the back and brought out a small brown and white owl. It was just a little bit bigger than Pig but it looked strong enough. "This here is Jet. Named after those fast things muggles use to fly with. She's the fastest we got and unfortunaently only one of two. Sonic owls aren't rented all that much now a days."

Harry didn't say anything as he lifted his letter to give to the man. It came to a surprise as Jet lifted one leg and was suddenly perched on Harry's shoulder. They all blinked in shock.

"That is one fast owl," Ron muttered, his mouth hanging open as he stared at Jet.

Harry looked at her in amazement. "If you don't mind me asking, but how are sonic owls able to do that?"

The man grunted. "Not really sure myself but I heard a rumor that some crazy Unspeakable bred a magical hummingbird with an owl. He kept breeding the fastest living things out there over and over until he got the sonic owl. Pretty crazy if you ask me."

Harry couldn't help but think some people had way too much time on their hands. "How much do I owe you?"

"For a trip to Egypt? That'll be 17 galleons and six sickles. If you get a return message, Jet will send it back to you before coming back."

Harry paid quickly. He tied the letter up and stroked the owl. "Be careful out there. I know this might be weird to ask of a really fast owl, but be quick will you?"

Jet gave a small hoot and took off, already out of sight. Harry turned to the others. "What?" he asked as he saw their faces. "Don't you ever say anything to an owl?"

The man laughed. "Good lad. Owls, especially carrier owls, love nothing more than respect. You must have one good owl if you are used to talking to them before letting them go."

In the end they all stayed for a few more minutes, talking about the post business and getting a few jibes from the twins for talking to an owl like that and other such nonsense. Eventually they all left the shop at 11:10 and headed back to Hogwarts.

Getting back to the school turned out to be pretty easy. The bad news was that they had to take the long way since Honeydukes was closed and there was no way in. Since this was no big problem sine it was only a ten minute walk they conversed with each other.

"Do you think mum will find out?" Ron asked, getting a little red in the face. "She'll get awfully mad if she finds out."

Fred rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you're scared of the consequences, little brother."

"Yea," George added. "We were starting to think you actually had some Weasely blood in you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron said angrily.

George fluttered his eyelashes. "No need to be moody, Ron, or are you going to start taking house points away?"

Ron blushed furiously.

Harry looked at Ron. "What does he mean by that?"

Ron lost his blush and started averting Harry's gaze, muttering quietly under his breath. Harry leaned in closer, trying to hear what he had to say.

"Didn't you hear?" Fred asked cheerfully. "Ronnikinns has been made a Prefect!"

The twins burst out into laughter. "Little icky Prefect!" the two danced around Ron. Ron's entire face was red but he was mostly staring at Harry now, waiting to see his reaction.

Harry threw the twins an annoyed glance before turning to Ron. Harry had completely forgotten all about fifth year Prefects. He frowned, expecting to feel some type of irritation. A small voice wondered why _Ron_ of all people was chosen.

But Harry pushed that aside and smiled brightly. "Excellent job, mate! Now all you need to do is be Quidditch captain next year."

Ron grinned fully. "You mean you're not mad?"

Harry waved his concerns away. "Mad? Nah, I feel much better knowing I don't have to deal with all that responsibility." Ron paled. "Yep," Harry said, grinning and swinging an arm around Ron, "I feel much better knowing it's you."

"I think Harry just made the little Prefect sick," Fred noted, looking at Ron who was slowly turning paler and paler as he realized how much work he would have to do.

"You know, I think you're right," George agreed happily. They both gave Harry a round of applause.

Snorting at their behavior, Harry let go of Ron and turned to the forest. He blinked as he saw a black creature standing just at the edge of the forest. Harry didn't know what it was. He looked at it, studying it closely. It resembled an underfed horse with a type of snake or dragon head. Great leathery wings stretched in the moonlight.

"Hey, you guys," Harry called, gaining the others attention. He pointed to the strange creature. "What do you suppose that is?"

They all looked around wildly. "What are you looking at?" Ron asked. Harry moved Ron's head so that he was looking straight at the creature.

"That," he told him.

Ron shook his head. "I don't see anything."

Harry turned to the twins. "Can't you…?" he trailed off as they shook their heads. Harry turned back to see the creature once more but was shocked when he saw it was gone. "It's gone," he said with a little regret.

"Are you sure you could see something, Harry?" Ron asked carefully.

Harry nodded. "Yea, it looked like the dark version of Pegasus. Do you think th--" Harry was cut off as he yelled in pain.

"Mate, what's wrong?" Ron asked, glancing at the twins worriedly.

Harry gritted his teeth and grabbed his arm. He cried out in pain as a jolt went up both his arm and leg. He was brought to his knees as he could no longer support himself with only one leg.

"Why is his leg and arm glowing?" Fred shouted, trying to get Harry to calm down.

Harry was hugging himself now, his eyes watery with unshed tears. "Make it stop," he croaked. "Oh, Merlin, this is worse than the Cruciatus."

They all paled dramatically at that.

"It's those bracelet things," Ron said, pointing Harry's wrist and ankle. Ron tried to grab the manacle and wrench it off.

Harry grabbed Ron's arm, causing him to wince at the strong grip. _'Don't touch me!' _Harry hissed in parseltongue.

Ron and the twins jumped backwards, horror written on their faces.

"I'm really sorry about this, Harry," Ron said, pulling out his wand. Harry looked up weakly as another jolt ripped through his body. He smirked. Voldemort must be angry if he's trying to 'punish' him.

"_Immobulus_," Ron said, making Harry freeze. Although Harry was now frozen, they could still see the pain in his eyes. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Ron snapped. "We need to get him to the Hospital Wing."

Fred picked Harry up carefully but quickly and carried him piggyback style. They all ran as fast as they could. Luckily, the school was only three minutes away in walking distance. They made it in one.

"Professor! Madam Pomfrey!" Ron yelled. The nurse came out, looking very angry.

"What are you yelling about, Mr. Weasely? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"But something's wrong with Harry!" Ron said frantically, pointing at Harry who was put onto the bed and release from the spell. Harry immediately curled up into a ball, shaking but refusing to call out.

Madam Pomfrey hurried to his side. She ran her wand over him. When nothing seemed to happen, she starting chanting in Latin, tapping his wrist and ankle. Harry let a small groan escape his lips, glaring at Pomfrey.

'_Get away from me! It hurts but please just leave me alone.' _He continued to hiss at them until Madame Pomfrey finally flooded Dumbledore in.

"Headmaster, it's those manacles. They're causing Potter pain and none of my healing skills are working." Madame Pomfrey continued to try different spells, ignoring Harry's angry hisses.

"Harry," Dumbledore said gently. Harry tried to sit up but Dumbledore put a firm hand on his shoulder. "I need you to be still. I know this is hard, but I need you to keep as still as possible."

'_Don't make me go to sleep,' _Harry hissed harshly, unable to resort back to English. _'It's only been one day. I'm working hard, just let me deal with it.'_

Harry stopped talking as Dumbledore put his wand on the manacle on his wrist. _"Satis," _he said clearly. A soft blue light surrounded the green light, fighting it off.

Harry winced as the fight continued. After three minutes, the blue light finally beat the sickly green light that gave Harry so much pain. Harry let out a breath of relief before slumping against his pillows. A Calming Drought was given to him.

He looked at Professor Dumbledore. "Thank you," he said, voice reverting back to English. His eyes looked down. "Did you stop it for good?"

"No, Harry, I am afraid I have not." Harry looked back up. "I'm afraid I have still come across little information about these manacles. What I have discovered, although, has given me the knowledge of this spell."

"It can make the pain go away?"

"Not exactly, Harry." Dumbledore turned to Harry, still not meeting his eyes. "I believe that what Voldemort was trying to do was call you."

"Call me?" Harry repeated completely confused.

"Yes. Study has told me that when the first and only other being to be put under the power of the manacles, the one who controls that person can call that person to him from a long distance with severe amount of pain." At Harry's horrified look, Dumbledore continued. "That does not mean transportation or anything of the sort. It simply means that until the one under the manacles powers makes their way to the one in control, the pain will not go away."

"But someone made this spell to stop it?" Harry asked. He spared a glance at Ron. He looked dead on his feet.

Dumbledore nodded. "Harry, I want you to come to my office every Sunday at 8:00 P.M. We will be studying this intensely. I do not want another event such as this one."

Harry nodded. That sounded good. With Dumbledore's help and knowledge, they should be able to remove the stupid manacles.

Ron smiled at Harry as Dumbledore left. "You have no idea how worried I was, mate."

"Yea, we all were," George added.

"Perhaps its not the best time," Fred started.

"But do you want us to prank Snape for your amusement?" George finished.

Harry chuckled weakly. "Make sure you make his robe yellow with pink flowers," he told them.

"Can do!" they both said, grinning happily.

Small talk didn't last long as the Weasely brothers hopped into the extra beds and went to sleep. Harry stayed up the whole night once more. With no book, he was extremely bored. At least he had Tagger to tell him stories. The small dragon had a crazy imagination.

The one thing Harry did do caused him to smile, a true smile. He stared intensely at the quill on the table beside the bed. He had stared at it for so long any passing person would have thought he was dead or frozen. The quill twitched but did nothing more.

Harry panted a little. "I'm getting there," he whispered.

Wandless magic was amazing if you had not only the power, but the endurance.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

The last two weeks of summer passed by in a flash. Not once did Harry get anymore pain from the manacles and he managed to stay awake the entire time. The potion was made and could keep him going for three weeks before he had to make some more. He made sure to only drink it once a weak and use a glamour charm every time he got bags under his eyes.

They disappeared after each potion. He decided to take it every Wednesday. Along with that potion, P had been an excellent tutor. Hermione as well. He had her test him on his first year potions before moving onto second year. They were only half way done with it but Hermione was quite pleased.

Ron was a little bummed Harry had started studying but didn't question his friend. After what he saw, he didn't care if Harry read the entire library. Harry made this up by playing Quidditch at least an hour everyday with Ron. Flying lessons happened everyday as well. Buckbeak refused to get up any earlier than sunrise but agreed to take him afterwards, arriving just in time for breakfast. He still hadn't managed to get past a glide.

Hedwig had returned but only the Grim Foundation returned the letter. They were quite happy with Harry's questions and gave a full summary on the foundation. It apparently took care of endangered magical dogs. Apart from the Grim, they had Cerberi, Hell Hounds and a few other breeds. The foundation was created to help protect these endangered animals and try to increase their population.

Harry also received a letter from Ash and Kaz. It was just a hello note. How are you doing, what have you done, stuff like that. He quickly wrote a response. He said hi to everyone and checked to see how they were doing. He told Ash to thank Switch for the book she gave him. Hedwig happily took the letter and took off. Only after she checked up on Padfoot, who Harry was taking care of, did she leave.

Ron and tried to get Harry to spill who the letter was for but Harry just said it was a friend he had met in Diagon Alley. He said nothing more and nothing less.

Although Harry had only gone to the Headmaster's office twice to look up research, he was starting to wonder if they would ever find any information about the manacles. It seemed as if people only knew what they did and nothing else. There was also no information on who the first person had been.

Despite the lack of information and hard work, Harry was still enjoying himself. He and Kilian would meet three times a week in the forest, going just a little bit deeper into the forest each time. Harry, who was eager to explore the forest, still wanted to be cautious and learn his way around before getting lost. He would bring his shuriken and a book with him each night. This seemed to make Kilian happy when she saw him practice the weapons.

Although she had some kind words to say to him, old prejudices die hard. She often insulted him which he gladly returned. Small fights would break out every now and then but they both got over it by the end of the night. Harry didn't find anymore quartz, much to Kilian's disappointment, but promised her someday, when he was more used to the forest, he would look for some with her.

Harry's magic hadn't sparked in a while and that made Harry happy. He still knew he had no real control over it. At least not yet. He couldn't do anything more than turn it into a butterfly but it could give someone a really good shock if touched by someone.

Spells were becoming a major part for Harry as well. He often practiced with Hermione and Ron but they sometimes didn't participate. Harry wasn't bothered by their lack of interest. He, however, loved it. Each night he couldn't wait to learn a new charm or spell. One spell, _Terere,_ gave him wonderful ideas with wands. Although he had not started on that project, or go down to the Chamber of Secrets, that spell would help. The spell polished wood to an insane degree that even Purebloods would drool over.

The spell, _Incendium Vitae,_ took him a week to master. It produces fire that can change its shape and acts like a homing device. When cast at a person, it will not stop until it hits said person. Unfortunately, a medium level shield could stop it but its more of a distraction spell and can cause some chaos.

Books became Harry's life but he made sure to be around people from time to time to assure them he was ok. Speaking of books, one night he managed to sneak into the Restricted Section of the library and managed to snag three books. The only reason he didn't stay longer because according to the Marauders map, Snape was taking a midnight walk. Those books had not only been very gruesome, but very helpful.

They were Occlumency books, giving full detail and pictures of people losing their mind because something went wrong. It was with these books that Harry managed to make one very skinny mental shield. It was so thin that a quill could break it. Harry didn't care. It would be stronger than steel.

Letters and questions to Griphook had given Harry the general idea of what he could do and shouldn't do. With Griphook's help, Harry concluded that if he first focused on the diamond and gem mines, he could gain more interest than three others combined. Harry reluctantly spent 700,000 galleons but remembered how much he had and gladly bought 10 percent more. That gave him a total of 12 percent. In five month's, that money and a little interest would be paid back.

Since the mines were in Africa, Harry gave some anonymous funds to the hospitals Sebastian Potter helped create. Even though funds were already going there, Harry gave a little extra. When he sent a note, he just said Sebastian Potter still supports these hospitals. The letter back was stained with tears and messy ink. But the thanks was there and Harry smiled as he realized he felt so good about what he was doing.

The only other Gringotts related thing Harry did was pay for three dragons to guard all of his vaults. He made sure to pay a little extra to get the best they had. They would not allow anyone into his vault unless Harry himself accompanied them. And only a limited number of goblins were being permitted to enter. Harry wanted to make sure that when Harry started going after Death Eater business, someone like Malfoy couldn't bribe a greedy goblin to mess with his money.

The egg that Harry got at the store in Knockturn Alley had turned a light silver color but otherwise remained the same. Harry now kept it in his pocket at all times. Vox, the annoying little bugger, was on Harry's back almost all day. At least Harry knew he could bribe the little pest with some meat or seeds.

Pretty soon it was the end of summer. They would be riding the Hogwarts Express, although Harry didn't see the point, but was told it was for appearances. Also, Ron and Hermione needed to go to the Prefect meeting. Harry agreed they needed to do that and supported them all the way. Harry really was glad he didn't have to deal with being a Prefect.

The saddest thing about summer ending was that Sirius and Remus would be leaving. They would be staying at Sirius's old home. It appeared that Sirius didn't look too thrilled about that but managed to give a cheerful goodbye. Harry was sad that they took Buckbeak with them too. Harry managed to sneak an entire chicken to the Hippogriff as a goodbye present. He would have to find a new way of flying.

"Ready to go, dear?" Mrs. Weasely asked Harry.

Harry nodded, smiling kindly at her. She smiled back as he walked over to her. He passed Snape and smirked at him. Snape glared even more so than usual. He probably hadn't gotten over that little prank the twins did to him after he left the Hospital Wing.

Harry snorted, grabbing onto the Portkey. They all landed with a small thud. Hugs and kisses were given. Harry walked onto the train, all the while clutching his sketchbook. He opened the first page and chuckled softly. The first page had a very angry Severus Snape in a yellow dress with pink flowers. Along with that he had purple hair with a blue streak and long pink earrings that dangled for the whole world to see.

He opened a compartment after bidding Ron and Hermione goodbye. Neville had joined him and Ginny as they searched for a seat.

"Let's sit here," Ginny said. "It's only Luna Lovegood."

Harry entered the compartment with the others as introductions were made. When Luna turned a dreamy gaze to him, Harry couldn't help but tilt his head in curiosity.

"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure," said Luna in a singsong voice.

Harry grinned. Things were getting better by the second.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Yo. Sorry about the wait. Don't expect another for a while. Sorry, but I need to update two others and then finals come in a week and a half. Then I take my drivers test for my license! Boo ya! 16 rocks! A small note: The spells that are Japanese is indeed Japanese but the description is in English so that Harry can understand.)

Sorry if the last part seems rushed. It kind of was. And you though Harry wouldn't have to go through more torture before school started? Tsk, tsk. I gave him one last dose of pain. Yes, I know I'm evil. (Insane laughter.)

I would personally like to thank Letifer Kamisori for providing me with the spells Terere and Incendium Vitae. They kick ass! I'm sorry if the business stuff sounds…weird, but I don't have a single clue about business. Sorry!

Anyway, hoped you all loved it! I certainly loved the sonic owl. I was watching the original Sonic the Hedgehog episodes on youtube and I'm like 'I need Sonic owls!' There you go. Oh, I know some people are like, '$55? That's not so expensive.' Sorry, but it is to me!

I fixed this one a bit. Got rid of the authors notes in the middle of a story and the italic qriting at the bottom. Sorry, but everytime I submit a document. always does wierd stuff to the document.

Please review.


	11. Classes

Yo. I've got the next chapter up. I want to thank everyone for all their reviews! 200! Yay!

There are a few things I would like to point out. The weapons Harry purchased do have some dark powers. I was planning on showing their true purposes next chapter and the fact that I already had that planned out blinded me. It made me forget that you, the readers, didn't know. I apologize for that.

I would like to thank St. Alicon for pointing that out for me. Oh, and about the PS2. I'm only two or three years early on that. Sorry if I offended you but I honestly didn't think such a small thing like that would matter.

Hmm. That's about it. Please enjoy the chapter.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry sat with his back pressed against the glass, his knees drawn up as he carefully worked on his next sketch. The journey had been far from great. Although Luna's odd comment every now and then amused Harry to no end, he was very bored and seemed to twitch every so often. It wasn't that he was on some drug or was twitching with paranoia, no; it was the need to _move. _

Harry felt the greatest urge to just run at full speed with no boundaries. As the last two weeks went by in a blur, Harry learned a new love other than flying. Running gave him the same feeling as flying on a broomstick. It gave him the sense of freedom. While Harry could move about the air in dangerous spins or dives, Harry could shoot through the forest, dodging trees and jumping over rocks and roots.

It was the sense of adventure. Harry was soon longing for that feeling now more than ever. He was a man of action. Not to mention some of his dragon instincts often got the better of him. Food had already been taken over. Occasionally, when Harry talked out loud to himself, he though he could hear a distinct hiss or growl to his voice.

It also could have been puberty.

Harry could only shake his head to clear his thoughts and hopefully think of an idea. He glanced down at his half finished drawing. It was a child kneeling on the ground, his hand outstretched. Floating just above the child's hand was a small orb. Harry was planning to color the picture and make the small orb a baby blue color. The title was called Childhood Dreams.

Harry couldn't help but smile softly as he drew the pleased expression on the child's face. Every child should have a dream, Harry told himself.

"So," Neville began, hoping to make conversation.

"How was your summer?" Ginny asked, understanding the boys shyness and gave him a warm smile.

Neville returned it. "It was ok," he told them. "I worked a little on my greenhouse."

"You have a greenhouse?" Harry asked, curious. He knew Neville liked Herbology but had no idea the boy had his own greenhouse. Harry tilted his head in thought. Neville was a pureblood, right? Maybe…

"Yea, I do," Neville said, happy that Harry had taken an interest in what he was saying. "It's not as big or luxurious as the ones at school, but it has some pretty rare plants." He dug through his bag and brought out a small plant, beaming with pride.

"_Mimbulus mimbletonia," _he stated proudly.

Harry could only stare at the plant, not knowing what to say. The plant looked like a deranged cactus with boils on it. Harry really had to fight the urge to poke one of those boils.

"Apparently, these plants are really rare," Neville told them. I'm going to see if I can breed them."

That time Harry couldn't stop a snort. When Neville looked at him strangely, Harry said, "Sorry Nev, but I never really understood how you could breed plants. I mean, no offense, but what if you tried to get that mimble thing together with a… Oh, I don't know a sunflower. I think the mimble would probably destroy said sunflower and erupt with some type of puss or something."

Everybody stared at Harry incredulously. Harry just blinked at them and he could notice Luna's raised eyebrow that seemed really out of place on her dreamy face.

Neville soon returned the plant and talking once again resumed.

"What's with the new hair style?" Neville asked, staring at Harry's green hair.

Harry shrugged. "Wanted a new changed and the lady at the barber shop went a little overboard."

"Good thing she didn't add silver streaks then, huh?"

Harry grinned at Neville. "Good thing indeed." Harry also noted the others seem to take in his new clothes as well. Luna just gave Harry a small glance before reading her upside down magazine. Harry didn't know much about clothes, but he was quite happy with his new ones.

Today he was wearing a red shirt with a black long sleeved undershirt. He had his black baggy pants on and a leather bracelet on his right wrist. Glamour's had been put on the manacles to make it appear as if they weren't even there. His black combat boots stood out nicely but were able to hide his large dagger.

Harry had been surprised but not shocked as he realized there was more to the daggers and shuriken than he originally thought. Of course he should have known better. They were from Borgin and Burkes after all.

The dagger, when able to cut someone, would infect the cut and if not treated right away, a limb or some body part could be completely destroyed. Harry bet it was illegal not only because of the damage it caused, but because of the horrible pain as well.

The shuriken had been only been charmed to move faster than they had been thrown and instead of just cutting, it shredded the skin. Harry knew this because he had tested his weapons on rabbits and other small creatures in the forest. He knew he had to be used to the idea of hurting another creature but Harry was pretty sure he wouldn't be moving onto anything bigger than a deer for a while.

Small talk remained but the compartment was otherwise quiet. It wasn't until Ron and Hermione came did things start to heat up. Malfoy and his goon squad showed up for their yearly beating.

"Get out," Harry said impatiently before Malfoy could even open his house. Seriously, he was not in the mood for Malfoy right now.

"Better watch your tone there, Potter," Malfoy mocked. "Just might have to take away house points or give detentions."

"Oh, you've got me there, Malfoy," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "Really, you've got me shaking in fear."

"So how does it feel to be second best to, Weasely?" Malfoy taunted.

"Get out!" Hermione and Ron roared.

Harry just yawned at the pathetic insult, infuriating Malfoy even more.

"Really, Potter, you have the manners of a beggar."

Harry shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure you were comfortable, Malfoy." There was a satisfying tinge of pink on Malfoy's cheeks.

"I heard the Dark Lord got a new pet," Malfoy whispered savagely. Harry narrowed his eyes. Malfoy saw the reaction and smirked. "I heard he even went through the trouble of beating and collaring the beast. Won't be long before it's been tamed— ack!"

Harry had Malfoy in a choke hold. He bared his teeth in anger and threw Malfoy out of the compartment. "Get out of here."

"You'll regret that, Potter," Malfoy threatened before leaving. His two goons followed, unsure of what else to do.

"Harry…" Ron started but Harry cut him off by putting some galleons on his lap.

"By me something, would you? I'm going for a walk." Harry left the compartment, leaving a very bewildered group.

Harry made his way to the very end of the train, nodding at those who waved but scowled at the ones who whispered behind his back as he passed. They obviously believed the Daily Prophet. Well, they would know the truth someday.

Harry finally made his way to the caboose and stood outside, leaning on the railings. He breathed in deeply, catching all the different scents and allowing the wind to blow his hair wildly.

"You should have ripped the ferrets face off," Tagger told him as he appeared in front f Harry.

"Neh, and then get sent of to prison for killing him? As eager as that sounds, I really do need to do a few other things first."

Tagger laughed.

The two stayed quiet for a while. Harry had climbed onto the railing and was in a crouching/sitting position. Harry stayed out there for thirty minutes. Those thirty minutes soon turned into an hour.

As they passed over a large bridge with a river underneath, Harry swore he could make out a blue and green creature that had to be at least twenty feet long. As the train sped away, Harry didn't get a really good look and wondered if he had just imagined it.

"Harry?" said a quiet voice. Hermione closed the door behind her and saw where Harry was. She gave a loud shriek, almost causing Harry to fall off from shock. "Get off! Are you trying to kill yourself? What if you fell off?" Hermione continued to scold him, bringing a smile to Harry's lips.

"Sorry, 'Mione. I didn't mean to worry you."

Hermione scowled slightly but smiled at his grin. "You had everyone else worried too. Ron thought Malfoy had jumped you or something."

Harry chuckled. "The day Malfoy successfully jumps me is the day Voldemort marries a muggle."

"And if that does happen?" Hermione asked teasingly.

"Then I'll kiss Fudge."

"Eww." Hermione laughed with Harry. "I see you don't think it will ever happen."

Harry shook his head. "Nope."

The two stayed quiet for a bit, watching the scenery until Hermione noticed Harry rubbing his left wrist. She frowned. Was he even aware he was doing it?

"Harry," Hermione said quietly.

"Yea?" Harry looked at her, surprised to see her face sad. What had happened to change her emotion that fast?

"Does it hurt?"

Harry blinked. "What?"

Hermione took his wrist, suppressing the hurt look on her face as she saw him flinch at her touch. She covered his hand with both of hers. "Is he hurting you, Harry?"

Harry didn't say anything for a minute, his eyes wide. He smiled at her, his eyes filled with a warmth that Hermione wished she could see in his eyes everyday. "I'm fine, Hermione."

Hermione put her hands on her hips, her face firm. "You better be telling me the truth, Harry Potter, or you _will_ regret it."

Harry just laughed before stretching a bit. "Really, I'm fine." He made to move back inside the train but paused and walked back to Hermione. He gave her a tight hug. "Thank you for caring about me."

He walked inside, pausing to look back out. "Aren't you coming?" he asked.

Hermione smiled. "Yea, I'm coming, little brother."

"Yea I… EH!? Little brother!?" Harry turned around.

Hermione laughed at his response and, with a sly face, said, "Of course, Harry. I am older and still taller than you."

"…" Harry walked up quickly to her and put them back to back, checking their height with his hand. His eye twitched as he realized he was still shorter than Hermione by at least two centimeters.

Hermione playfully stuck out her tongue and ran back inside, ignoring Harry's indignant look. She laughed, glad Harry was happy. If only he could be like that all the time.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry made his way up to the carriages with his friends. He talked quietly to Neville and Ron as they walked closer and closer to the carriage. Harry stopped dead and stared at the strange beasts that stood in front of each carriage.

"Ron," he whispered quickly, unsure if the creatures were dangerous or not. They didn't appear to be doing anything but wait patiently. Actually, why were the carriages being pulled this year?

"Yea?" Ron turned back. "What is it?"

I motion to the horse's that looked like an escapee of a concentration camp. "What do you reckon those are?"

He turned, looking for what Harry saw. "What creatures?"

Harry feels like slapping his friend upside the head. What did he think he was referring to?

"Those horse things pulling the carriage."

This time Ron looks at Harry weirdly. "Uh, mate; I really don't know what you're talking about."

Harry gapped. Pulling Ron up to the horses, Harry put his head right in front of it. "That," he almost hiss.

Ron moves away from Harry nervously. "Look, Harry, I think we better get in the carriage now." He takes off.

Harry can only stare helplessly as his friend leaves.

"Don't worry," say's a voice from behind Harry. He turns and sees Luna. "I've been able to see them since I first came here."

"What are they?" Harry asks.

Luna just smiles dreamily. "Who knows?" She skips away, holding Ron's owl.

Harry feels awkward but continues to stare at the skeletal horse. It stares right back. They looked strangely familiar too. Hesitantly, Harry pets it on the head, smiling slightly as it rubs his arm for more.

They aren't so bad.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Everyone chatted loudly, the sorting hat and Dumbledore's speech already done. There were a lot of shocked voices when they learned there was to be a Halloween dance. Students could dress up in bought or homemade costumes. The girls were looking at the guys with a predatory glint in their eyes.

The food was as good as always but there was a slightly tense atmosphere. The Sorting hat had left a warning and, despite the bold yet almost desperate song, no one really seemed to heed its words.

All but Harry Hermione, that is.

"Oh, come off it, guys!" Ron said with a mouthful of potatoes. "Do you really think that old hat was serious?"

Nearly Headless Nick floated over to them at that moment. "You should heed its warnings serious," he told them. "The Sorting hat has been known to give warnings in the past."

"Did anything ever happen? Harry asked. He cut his steak carefully, staring at the red liquid still covering the delicious meat.

"Oh, yes," Nick said importantly. "But that is not for me to say. The ghosts here are not allowed to give private information about the Sorting hat."

"Why is that?" Hermione asked.

Nick just stared at her. "Because of honor."

The old ghost floated off, leaving the trio deep in thought.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry hid a groan. He figured a lot of people wouldn't believe him, but he honestly did not expect one of his own roommates to turn on him.

Harry just stared at Seamus impassively. "Fine," Harry said coldly, hopping into his bed. "But just remember, _you're_ the one who's supposedly sleeping the same room with a crazy man."

Harry shut the curtains, anger causing him to shake. He muttered a quick spell and his trunk, which had been shrunken, returned to its normal height and stood on Harry's bed. Making sure all the charms he placed on the bed were secure, he entered the trunk, closing it afterwards.

He had placed several silencing charms on the bed and charmed the curtains to not be opened by anyone but him. Very useful.

"Stupid, backstabbing little bugger," Tagger growled angrily. He turned to Harry hopefully. "Prank him? Pleeease?"

Harry sighed but smirked at Tagger. "If I do, I'll be sure it's huge. Deal?"

Tagger nodded. "But no later than three weeks."

"Fine, fine, if it'll get you to shut up."

"Hey!"

Harry took off his shirt, now only in his pajama bottoms, and transformed. He breathed in happily, stretching his muscles and feeling his scales move. He loved that feeling and never got over it. Tail swishing back and forth, Harry entered the library.

"It's a shame we couldn't get any books from your family vault," Tagger said, floating with his arms behind his back.

Harry nodded in agreement, his eyes wandering for a new book. His eyes landed on the weapons book he got from Borgin & Burkes.

"When the next vacation comes, I'll be sure to have a better look around the family vault and Knockturn Alley." Harry tilted his head. "And try to figure out what that other Alley is."

"It still sounds kind of stalker-ish that he knew you would be back."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Who cares? The book he left is very useful."

Tagger was silent after that.

Harry opened the book eagerly, noticing several pictures of weapons and some disfigured bodies. It was quite gruesome but gave Harry the general idea of what he should expect of a weapon.

_The art of weaponry is most often looked down upon by wizarding society. While true when it comes to spells, a wand is much more useful. You, however, have chosen to ignore those laws. To begin, all you need is a few items. When you have completed the instructions necessary rituals, your weapon shall be made. To learn more about your weapon, simply put it on this book until instructions appear._

Ah, so it was more of a guide book on how to use the weapon. Harry looked at the book strangely, wondering why it was considered dark. His answer was solved after looking through it more carefully. Besides, the gruesome pictures, the rituals involved needed blood.

Harry frowned. He knew first hand that not all blood rituals were good, but to condemn them all was ridiculous. Some, however, had been given permission to but only with Ministry personal. He would need to look into blood magic later.

Looking back at the book, he made a list of what he needed.

One personal object.

Exactly two centimeters of blood.

Runes to be carved into the area he would perform the ritual.

And it had to be on the day of a full moon exactly at midnight.

Harry tapped his chin in thought. Those were some interesting things. He supposed he could just do the ritual in the Forbidden Forest. Getting the blood was simple enough but the important item is what he really needed.

What about his invisibility cloak? No, he couldn't carry the cloak around all the time. Even if he could change the object into a weapon and back, it wouldn't be worth it if it was stolen or lost. He also couldn't use his Firebolt. What else did he have?

He didn't have anything.

Harry looked down, one claw rubbing circles into the carpet.

"What about your wand?" Tagger suggested.

"What?" Harry looked up. "My wand?" He took out his wand, holding it gently. He smiled. Of course! This wand had chosen him, creating a bond. It was the closest thing Harry had ever kept to himself.

Harry grinned. "Good idea. And since this ritual can make it change back and forth, I could shoot spells and then use the weapon if needed."

"Yes, but I don't think you should do this until you have a new wand. What if you lost your first wand? You would have nothing."

Harry scowled. "I would have my knives and claws." Harry held up his hands to clarify.

"Neh." Tagger just disappeared, telling Harry he had gone back into his mind.

Grumbling, even though he knew Tagger had a point, Harry made his way over to the items Ollivander gave him. He made a small table where he could look over all the tools from a sitting position.

Opening the book, Harry could only blink as a magazine fell out. Lifting it up curiously, Harry could only grin as he read the catalogue. It would basically tell him exactly what type of wood, cores, anything he needed for him personally.

Harry opened the first page. Wood.

_Please place one drop of blood in the square at the top. This will tell you what wood would benefit from you the most._

Harry did as was told and watched words start to appear.

There was of course Holly, but Yew also appeared. Harry frowned at that one but looked at the other types. Lignum Vitae (Green Ironwood), Snakewood and Manchineel wood also appeared.

He wrote the names on a piece of parchment. That was exactly five types of wood. That didn't necessarily mean he could use all, but it would help him find what he needed the most.

The next page was the same, only this time for the core. Smudging some blood in the box at the top, Harry checked to see what he would need.

Phoenix feather/blood.

Dragon scale.

Snake venom/blood.

Griffon claw.

Chimera scale.

Harry could only blink. That was another five. He was a bit confused about the blood and venom though. How could he do that?

Harry opened the book, 'The Making of Wands,' and found out that the liquid or blood would be hardened and frozen when he applied to spells and actually worked with the wands. That seemed interesting.

After writing the names of the items, he ripped off the back of the catalogue so he could write what he needed. He could send it off with Hedwig. He also needed to write a reply to Ash's letter. She had asked if he could tell her about the classes he was in. She was very curious about it.

After writing what he needed, he folded the piece of paper in half and put it back on the small table. The length would have to be done by himself. Really, it was all a matter of guess work.

He also made sure to not add Phoenix blood since he had that. He already knew where to find snake scales and venom. He sighed. He would need to pay a visit to the Chamber of Secrets soon. He would wait at least four weeks after the start of school.

Things died down around that time.

"Well," Harry said aloud, "better get started on spells."

A new book in hand, Harry entered the training area. He transformed back into a human since he could not perform any spells as a dragon. While an inconvenience, Harry supposed he would just have to be a better weaponist in dragon form.

Grinning dangerously at the Dummy, Harry raised his wand and shouted, _"Torrido Aguamenti," _which shot scalding hot water. On a Death Eater, it would cause severe burns and more than likely force him to drop his wand.

A very nice spell.

The meter rose more than half way, pleasing Harry since he had only practiced the spell once. Looking at another spell, he made the moving Dummy come to life. He would need this one to dodge attacks. Also, he just wanted to see if he could perform the next spell.

Concentrating hard, Harry raised his wand, shouting, _"__Fossareres_!_"_ Small spikes rose from the ground. The Dummy jumped out of the way, unharmed.

Harry focused more power, eager for the spell to be more powerful. The spikes he created had been too small, doing nothing more than break a foot.

Shouting once more and jabbing his wrist, larger spikes appeared Harry saw that this time the spikes rose to hip level. The Dummy had of course gotten out of the way, as it was charmed to do, but Harry was sure any other wizard would not have gotten away from that without also transfiguring the ground.

Harry fell to one knee, drained. He had used more power than he should have. That was a problem he had and still had not fixed. Panting, Harry cancelled the Dummies and slowly rose.

Harry suddenly gasped, clutching his scar and closing his eyes as his head exploded in pain. He managed to smirk weakly, crawling to the potions he had. Of course they just had to be on the other side of the gym.

Another burst of pain shot through his head, making him curl up in a ball. He would not whimper or cry out. The satisfaction of knowing Voldemort was angry at him made him happy since he knew he had to be doing something Voldemort didn't like.

Trying to raise his weak Occlumency shields, Harry felt pain in his neck. For some reason, he knew Voldemort was grabbing him by the back of his neck.

"Let me go," Harry hissed to the room. He struggled to stand up right, desperately trying to ignore the pain from both his scar and his neck.

Concentrating with all his might, he felt his magic spark, electricity coming alive around his body and mind. Harry managed a weak smirk, seeing two electric butterflies flutter around him protectively. He knew there were more in his mind and he also knew Tagger was there as well, fighting off the intruder.

When the pain passed and Harry could stand up right, he couldn't help but laugh. It just hurt so much, both emotionally and mentally. Maybe he was crazy, after all, he _was_ laughing at the fact Voldemort could cause him pain like this. Of course, Voldemort hadn't done something like this in a while. His Occlumency shields, while still weak, were helping.

Harry raised a hand to his head, rubbing it almost innocently. "God I hate him."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Are you sure you're alright?" Hermione asked for the fourth time.

Harry sighed, looking at her as he picked at his egg. "For the millionth time, Hermione, I'm fine. Can you pass the coffee?"

Hermione sighed but did what was asked. "I still can't believe you got the house elves to make this."

Harry just smiled. "To help me wake up in the morning," he told her. He took several large gulps and checked his class schedule. He grimaced, seeing what his first classes would be. History of Magic, double potions, Divination, and double Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"I hope Fred and George finish those Skiving Snackboxes," Ron groaned.

"Don't let Hermione hear that," Harry warned quietly. "She'll be all over you and I don't think the twins will lay off if they hear a Prefect trying to get out of class."

Ron just groaned again.

Harry patted his friend. "Well," he said cheerfully, earning a glare from Ron, "let's get to class!"

Hermione beamed at him when she looked up. "That's the spirit, Harry. Make sure you take proper notes this year, especially with our O.W.L's this year."

Harry mock saluted and dragged Ron away from the table and towards Binns' class.

Class was as boring as ever. Professor Binns, their only ghost teacher, had a wheezy voice that seemed to drone on and on. Harry had seriously tried to take adequate notes, especially since he wanted to have good grades this year instead of just sliding by, but could only last thirty minutes and spent the last hour doodling on a bit of parchment.

He decided to draw Binns talking to a bunch of zombies and not even noticing, too wrapped up in his boring lecture. All the zombies were stabbing themselves, trying to kill themselves to get out of the lecture only to realize they were already dead.

Harry chuckled quietly as he finished, shading another part of the picture, completing it just before the bell rang. He picked up his bag, walking toward the dungeons with his friends. He decided to keep his face neutral as he entered what was known as 'Snape Territory.'

Snape, Harry decided, had acted entirely too childish. He was an adult, and although he had problems with James Potter in the past, he had to get it through his greasy head that the man was dead. He was also a teacher. Harry still wondered why the greasy man had taken the job if he didn't even teach.

Deciding not to think too hard on the subject, Harry laid P down on the table carefully, respecting the book and its knowledge. P was just another thing Harry could not tell anyone. It was rather risky to be using it out in the open, but Harry trusted P's word, despite that was still a book, which no one would find out.

Besides, Harry told himself, how is it cheating if he did all the work? All he got were different directions. Unless someone outright did the work for him, then Harry would have called that cheating.

Snape took that moment to enter the classroom, muttering insults to the Gryffindor's as he passed. He turned to the class, eyeing each student carefully. His lip curled when his eyes landed on Harry but he just stared back, daring Snape to the childish one in this battle.

Snape didn't take the bait.

"Before we begin today's lesson," Snape said silkily, sweeping over to his desk and looking back at the class, "I think it appropriate to remind you of the O.W.L exam. I expect you all to scrape by with an acceptable or you will suffer my… displeasure."

His eyes lingered on Neville who gulped.

"Of course, after this year, many of you will cease studying with me if you should not get a high enough grade. I take only the best in my N.E.W.T Potions class, in assurance that I will no longer have to deal with the idiots who waste my time."

Harry narrowed his eyes. The whole point of being a teacher is to _teach_. What the hell was Dumbledore thinking when he hired Snape? Harry glanced at Neville, determined to help the boy out as much as possible. Harry smiled inwardly, excited about what he wanted to show Neville later.

"Today we will be mixing the potion known as the Draught of Peace," Snape began again, taking Harry out of his musings. "The instructions are on page 125 of your book. Ingredients," Snape gestured at the cupboard as the door opened on its own, "are in here if you do not have all the ingredients already." He glared at them all. "Start."

Harry decided to open up P first, deciding it would be better to get his ingredients only after the book had told him if he needed any extra.

_**Yes, the Draught of Peace is a bit difficult but you have studied potions for a few years now. You should do fine if you follow my directions and do this calmly. The Draught of Peace can be a bit frustrating at times, given that you have to heat the fire to a precise degree and stir in the right direction every few minutes.**_

**_Now, I want you to get all the ingredients that are written down. The only other thing I want you to get is a bit more hellebore syrup. If able to, find a solid hellebore and let it sit in the potion for a while. But we'll get to that later. Off you go!_**

Harry grabbed all the necessary ingredients, receiving a few odd stares. Usually the Gryffindor's all rushed to the cupboard and started as quickly as possible so they didn't run into any sabotaging Slytherin's on the way back.

Harry grabbed some powdered moonstone and checked to see if there was any solid hellebore. Trying to remember what a hellebore was, Harry almost hit himself. It was a flower! He searched until he found the pale purple flower but still grabbed some syrup as well.

Just in case.

Unfortunately, the reasons Gryffindor's went first were true. Just as Harry was getting a good grip on his jar of hellebore syrup, he was shoved roughly into the side of the cupboard and dropped the jar, spilling the contents.

"Potter!" Snape barked.

Harry scowled angrily. He glared back at the person who pushed him, angry that he had not noticed the person sneak up behind him like that. There were too many scents in the air to know if someone was too close on purpose or with ill intention.

Malfoy smirked at him, causing Harry to grind his teeth. No, he would not snap, proving that he could hold his temper.

"Potter," Snape snarled. "Clean up that mess and use only the ingredients in your hand."

Harry just cast a quick cleaning charm and sat back down, really glad he had the solid hellebore with him.

_**An interesting start.**_

Harry wondered if P knew what happened just now and decided to ask later.

**_Add the Pomegranate juice first and let it simmer for three minutes exactly. I want you to add the powered moonstone as soon as the time is up. Stir clockwise three times and wait 1 minute and 23 seconds. Then stir counterclockwise five times._**

Harry did it as best as he could, pleased to note that he got the moonstone in only three seconds after the time limit. Usually he would have done it too late and messed up, but because he was paying attention, he knew he was doing a good job.

The rest of class seemed to fly by. Harry was not unaware of Snape watching him most of the time. He tried to ignore him but when he started to make it a habit of being right in front of Harry's potion, his hands started to shake from anger. He was also nervous that Snape would find out about P.

Luckily, P seemed to understand the situation and no longer left any notes. The book had already told Harry all the instructions anyway but Harry couldn't remember the next part. He knew he had to add two drops of hellebore syrup but didn't have any. He still had the flower but could not remember the amount of time he needed.

P had told him the instructions only moments ago.

_**The fire must be lowered some more until a small steam rises from the potion. Add the nettles and stir four times while raising the temperature. On the final stir add a half turn clockwise. For the hellebore flower, let it soak…**_

Harry nearly groaned. He couldn't remember how much time it was supposed to soak. How many minutes was it? Was it seconds? Uhg… Wait! It wasn't an exact number! Harry smiled and let the flower fall into his potion, not noticing the narrowed look from Snape.

Not even a minute passed by and a silver vapor started to rise from his cauldron. Grinning successfully, Harry quickly took the soaked flower out and tossed it into the waste.

"All of you should have a silver vapor rising out of your potion," Snape said, almost making Harry jump. "It seems that somehow Mr. Potter here has done that."

The entire class went quiet; the Slytherin's sniggering as they realized Snape was about to taunt Harry. Harry looked up defiantly.

"Tell me, Potter," Snape said quietly, "just how exactly did you get the correct shimmer without the hellebore syrup? I know for a fact that you dropped it because of your carelessness."

Harry glared. "I used the actual flower," he said tensely.

Snape folded his hands, staring at Harry that reminded him of the way Voldemort stared at him: Like an animal on display.

"Really? And how did you know the proper amount of time or even if a hellebore _flower_ would be even more significant than the syrup."

Harry thought quickly, trying to come up with an excuse. "Professor Sprout told me," Harry let out. "Yea, I remember her saying that some syrup ingredients can be used in place of a flower or the other way around in Potions. She said because Potions used plant ingredients, it would be useful to know that."

The entire class was staring at Harry. Neville and Hermione were frowning, trying to remember if Sprout really said that.

Snape, who stood directly in front of Harry, snatched his book away and started flipping through the pages, determined to find a note or anything else that could be used for cheating. He probably searched each page five times before throwing it back in Harry's hands with a snarl.

"All of you bottle up a sample and put on my desk. If you don't do this in the next five minutes you fail." There was some scrambling, but Harry did his carefully, hearing Snape whisper, "I don't know how you cheated, Potter, but I will find out."

Harry smirked coldly, something that was never seen on his face. Snape and the three Slytherin's that saw him blinked at they saw the look. Harry whispered, "If you have time to make false accusations, _Professor,_ then I'm sure you have enough time to grade this potion fairly, even it's the only fair grade you've ever given me. Who's the childish one, now?"

Harry placed his sample on the desk and left the classroom as quickly as possible, meeting up with Ron and Hermione for lunch.

"That was rather harsh of Professor Snape," Hermione said as he sat down. "Accusing you of cheating in front of the whole class like that."

Harry just shrugged and grabbed a sandwich.

Hermione took a sip of water before turning back to Harry. "When did Professor Sprout tell you that, anyway?"

"Er, a while ago," Harry said lamely. He didn't think Hermione would bring it up and was a little surprised when she did. "I don't remember, just last year, I think."

"Besides," Ron said, "even if Harry was cheating, he would have told me, right?"

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Ron," Hermione scolded.

"What?" Ron defended.

Hermione just pursed her lips but sat up straighter in thought. "I would have thought he'd be better this year," she said quietly. "I mean, with the Order and all that."

"Poisonous toadstools don't change their spots," Ron said darkly.

The two then started to get into a fight of if Snape was trustworthy or not. Harry felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance. Tagger, who had been congratulating him on pissing Snape off the first day, looked rather annoyed as well.

"Let's just ditch them," Tagger said, folding his arms and looking at the two. "C'mon, let's go hear how we'll die this time."

Harry got up and left the two, smirking at Tagger as he entered the hallway. "You do realize we still have an hour of lunch left, don't you?"

Tagger suddenly looked sheepish, evidently forgetting. "Er, yea, well, you need to study more!" Tagger disappeared quickly, making Harry laugh. He received some odd glances from the younger years before he suddenly thought of something.

He had been thinking about this for a while. Unfortunately, he hadn't thought about it during the Diagon Alley trip. Oh well. He would definitely need a teachers permission slip to get the book he wanted. But who to go to? Harry pondered for a moment before shrugging and just walked for the rest of the hour until it was time to get to Divination.

"Good day," Professor Trelawney said in her usual misty, dreamy voice. "I welcome you all back to Divination, already knowing that you would have returned safe and sound."

Harry managed to hide a snort as Ron looked at him with a small grin.

"If you will look at the books on your table," Professor Trelawney said, making a sweeping motion with her arm, "you will see a copy of _The Dream Oracle._ Dream interpretation is a most important part of divining the future. This skill will be tested during your O.W.L.s."

Her voice turned disapproving. "However, if you have the all Seeing Eye, certificates and grades don't matter much. Now, I want you all to turn to the introduction page and then separate into pairs and try to interpret each others dream."

Harry sat in his chair glumly, having no idea what to say. Dreams… the word almost seemed to tease him. He didn't dream anymore because he didn't sleep. The thought made him want to break something… or someone.

"You go first," Ron said. "I never remember my dreams."

Harry decided to take on an irritated look. "I already know what my dreams mean," he growled out softly. "Surely you must remember one?"

Ron looked taken aback before he seemed to think Harry dreamt about the graveyard or the events of the summer.

"Well, I did have a dream about playing Quidditch," Ron said slowly. "Any idea what that means?"

Harry snorted. "Maybe it just meant you would be playing Quidditch."

Ron screwed up his face, looking as if thinking was becoming a strain. "Maybe it could mean try outs. Remember, Gryffindor need some new players this year."

Harry brightened up and grinned at his friend. "So do you plan on trying out?"

"Well," Ron trailed off, turning a bit red. "I don't know. I mean, it would be fun and all."

"You should," Harry urged. "I'll help practice with you."

Ron gave him a relieved grin. "Thanks, mate."

The rest of class turned out to be dull work and Harry was not happy to learn they would need to keep a dream diary. Oh well, he would just have to do what he did every year for Divination: Make stuff up.

Ron groaned as he climbed down the ladder. "We have so much homework already! I mean, we already have the foot-and-a-half-long essay for Binns on Giant wars, and Snape wants a foot long essay on the use of moonstones."

Harry agreed it was quite a bit for the first day but also reminded Ron it was their O.W.L year. Ron just grumbled at Harry for taking it all in stride.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry punched the training Dummy as hard as he could, receiving grim satisfaction as it fell to the ground. This year they had the worst DADA teacher. Umbridge, or Umbitch as the students referred to her, was a nightmare.

"Acting like she's so sweet and nice," Harry growled, shifting into his dragon form and making claw marks on the wall. "Putting everyone down like that," Harry said louder. "Calling me a bloody liar in front of the whole class. Well, we'll see who the liar is!"

Harry got so angry that he ran straight at the wall and head bashed right into it. He panted harshly as he let his head rest against the undamaged wall. He was unhurt, his horns having stopped the impact. "Damn toad, I'll make sure she regrets that."

"She'll regret everything when she finds out the truth," Tagger said as floated in circles, his teeth bared as well. "If I was solid I would have clawed her eyes out, left a giant hole through her chest and…"

Harry tuned Tagger out as he paced. "Need to calm down. Need to calm down." He said this a few times and tried to get into a meditative position. "Need to calm down," he said one last time.

Although Harry had been close to yelling his head off at her, he refrained. The strain was terrible and the whole class could see him twitching from the force. He couldn't get a detention and give the fat toad the satisfaction. He would be patient, no matter how hard, and he would show her and the entire Ministry what fools they had been. Harry smiled faintly as his mind started to calm, Occlumency lessons now taking over.

The only good news was that Angela had been nominated for Quidditch Captain.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The next day was almost as worse as the first. Hagrid had still not returned and the Slytherin's, Malfoy in particular, went to great lengths to get Harry angry. Strangely, Harry found that ignoring Malfoy was much easier than ignoring Umbridge. Harry had decided early on that she was not fit enough to be called Professor since she taught absolutely nothing.

"I swear, if Malfoy keeps going on about Hagrid like that," Harry trailed off angrily.

"You'll do nothing," Hermione replied. "Don't go blowing off some steam and the stupid things Malfoy says and then get in trouble."

Harry clenched his jaw but nodded at Hermione, silently agreeing with her. "Well, we have Herbology next," he told them.

Harry was actually not looking forward to this class. Professor Sprout, who was known to be kind and caring, had been rather cold and indifferent to Harry in the past, last year especially. She, along with most of the population, seemed to think he had taken Cedric's glory on purpose.

Harry wasn't sure if he could handle Sprout accusing him of killing Cedric. The memory still hurt, even though he was slowly getting over it. He was strong, though. He would get through this.

The greenhouse doors opened and a few fourth years came out. Harry, to his amusement, saw Luna heading his way.

"Hello," she said as she made her way to him. "Just so you know," she said in an almost stage like whisper, "I believe that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back, and that you fought him as well."

Harry blinked, more at her attire than her words. She wore earrings that looked suspiciously like orange radishes that, apparently, Parvati and Lavender noticed and were giggling behind them.

"You can laugh!" Luna said, thinking they were laughing at what she said instead of what she was wearing. "But people used to believe there were no such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumpled-Horn Snorlack!"

"Well, they were right, weren't they?" Hermione asked impatiently. She didn't seem to like Luna's beliefs and ideals.

Harry honestly didn't care. After spending so much time in the magical world he would be surprised by anything totally unrealistic being discovered.

Luna gave Hermione a look of pity that almost made Ron start laughing before she bounced away, earrings swinging madly. Hermione muttered something under her breath and entered the greenhouse with the others.

It came to no surprise as Professor Sprout gave a long lecture about their O.W.Ls, which bored everyone to death since they had listened to the same thing already. "Now," Sprout started, "I am excited to tell you that for the first few months you shall partner up with one other person and each grow a pant. I want to you and your partner to get to know each other and write an essay about what you have learned from both the person and their plant. You may, however, not pair up with someone you've had in the past."

Harry and Ron felt their hearts sink as they looked at each other glumly.

"This project will be worth more than half your grade. Failure is not an option." Ron's jaw dropped. "Now, off you go."

Harry looked around, wondering who he could pair up with. He noticed Neville's depressed look as people passed him. Harry also remembered he had forgotten to show Neville something last nigh because of how angry he got.

Harry walked up to Neville. "Hey," he said kindly, "wanna be partners?"

Neville looked shocked, because Harry Potter asked him or because anyone wanted to be partners with him Harry did not know.

Neville seemed to get over his shock and smiled. "Sure! Do you have any idea what kind of flower or plant you want to grow?"

Harry shook his head and sat next to Neville. "No, Professor Sprout said this was supposed to be a personal plant that reflected upon you, so I'm not sure at the moment."

Neville just nodded and handed a magazine to Harry as Sprout passed the rest out to the other students.

"These are the type of plants that I already have the seeds for," Sprout began, her eyes landing briefly on Harry before turning to the rest of the class. "If you know of any other plant you wish to grow and I do not have the seeds, you are welcome to order them if you like. However, you must tell me what you wish to grow in the next week."

Harry looked through the magazine with Neville and wrote down a few promising ones but otherwise saw nothing interesting. Neville seemed to go through the same thing and brought out his own personal magazine.

"We can look through this one," he said shyly. " I mean, if you haven't found one or something."

Harry, determined to get Neville out of his submissive attitude, grinned widely at the other boy. "Sure, Nev, anything interesting you have in mind."

Neville, brightened up by Harry's kind words, nodded and started to open the magazine to a specific page. The two ended up looking through the entire packet and both found what they wanted to grow.

Neville chose to grow Fanged Geranium, a rather high level plant for fifth years but would most likely show up on their O.W.Ls. "It's always seemed like an interesting plant and I can't use my Mimbulus mimbletonia since I've already started growing I," Neville explained.

Harry wasn't sure what he wanted to grow at first but saw a black rose. He knew it meant death or farewell, but the magical property was a bit interesting. It could be used for many things or did many things, one being able to bloom fully and, if done correctly in a ritual, would judge a person and give them either life or death.

Harry rather liked that view since he himself would have to choose between killing and not killing. A magical black rose was much harder to grow than a muggle one, which was actual a regular red one painted black, and would take time and careful care.

Neville complimented Harry on his choice and both packed up, ready to leave. "Hey, Neville," Harry called before Neville could leave.

"Yea?" the other boy asked.

"There's something important I need to show you tonight. Do you think you could meet me in the dorm room a little early after dinner?"

Neville nodded, wondering what Harry wanted to show him. Harry just smiled mysteriously when asked and told him he had to wait.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Dinner was an interesting affair. Harry was eating some steak and kiwi at a slow pace. He could see Neville almost bouncing with curiosity and couldn't help but grin, eating a bit slower. When Neville seemed like he would burst, Harry relented and stood up, beckoning for Neville to follow.

Up in their dorms, Harry brought out his photo album. He didn't open it yet but instead said nervously, "This summer, I ended up finding a few things of my mothers."

Neville nodded for him to continue, not entirely sure where Harry was going with this.

Harry cleared his throat awkwardly and said, "Well, among some of the items was a photo album." He took this time to open it to the last quarter of it. Each photo had a small sentence or description of what was going on or who was in it. Harry pointed to one that said, 'Me and Alice!'

Neville stared at the photo incredulously. "Is… is that our mum's?"

Harry nodded shyly. "I guess our parents were really good friends since the last quarter of this book is filled with them and several other friends. Did…" Harry swallowed and looked at Neville. "Did you know they were friends?"

Neville shook his head slowly. "Not really. Gran just told me that your mum was my Godmother and it was the same with you and my mum."

Harry felt his hand clench. "Was she really?" The question was more to himself than Neville.

Neville looked up from examining the photo. "Yea, didn't you know?"

Harry shook his head. "No," he said with a frown, "no one told me."

They were silent for a few moments.

"I… heard about your parents, Neville," Harry said softly. "I'm sorry."

Harry saw Neville's shoulders tense. "It's ok," he said as quietly as Harry. "I mean, I can visit them an all, but you can't with yours."

Harry turned his head away. He didn't know what to say to that. Neville sniffed and Harry realized he had a few tears running down his cheek. With a start, Harry realized he did as well.

Attempting to look a bit more organized, Harry said, "Nev, would you like to look at the pictures with me?"

Neville gave Harry the largest smile Harry had ever seen.

"Thank you, Harry."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The rest of the week seemed to pass by in a blur and it wasn't until next Wednesday did Harry go up to Professor McGonagall to ask the question he had being dying to ask for over a week. He had just postponed it until the first week havoc was gone.

"Um, Professor?" Harry asked as soon as the class had emptied and the two were alone.

McGonagall looked up from her papers. "Yes, Mr. Potter?"

Harry took a deep breath but made sure his voice was calm but still firm. "I was wondering if you would allow me access to the Restricted Section part of the library."

Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes and put her quill down. "I would need a reason and the name of any book or books you wish to take out."

"I do not have any names in mind," Harry admitted. "I want to look up rituals or, more specifically, blood rituals."

"Blood rituals are an intense and darker part of magic, Mr. Potter. The practices of these rituals are strictly forbidden without Ministry permission. Even permission to _read_ about them is not something just anybody is allowed to do."

Harry thought about what he would say carefully. "Professor, I have no wish to actively go against the Ministry in any way. I just wish to learn about the theory and different types." Harry fidgeted. "Voldemort used my blood," he said softly, "and I need to make sure there isn't a closer bond or anything he can use against me."

Professor McGonagall stared at Harry intensely. After a moment she said, "Very well, Mr. Potter." She wrote her signature and a quick note on a piece of parchment and handed it to Harry. "I hope you find something that will be useful."

Harry smiled at her gratefully. "Thanks, Professor."

He left the classroom and headed for the library, knowing that it would be empty because it was lunch time. Madame Pince stared at him distrustfully but Harry didn't take it against her. She gave everyone the same look.

"Blood Rituals?" she asked, leading Harry to the Restricted Section.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Hmm, not a very well known or asked for subject. Give me a few moments to see what I can find. If you see any as well just inform me."

Harry nodded and tried to memorize any interesting titles and where they were located. Harry did not find any ritual books but Madame Pince came back with three books. One was pure black with gold letters that said 'The Dark Guide to Blood Magic.'

The second was a dark green with gold linings and brown letterings that said 'Theory of Blood Magic and Rituals.' Harry actually made a note to check if there was a difference between blood magic and blood rituals.

The third was a deep red that Harry was sure was once real blood painted into it. There was no title on it but as Harry made his way out of the Restricted Section, Harry could tell why these were not publicly allowed to the students. They just reeked of dark magic.

Harry put them in his bag carefully, and promised the librarian he would take care of them. As Harry exited the library and, instead of making his way to the Great Hall for lunch, he entered his trunk and decided to lunch in there.

Ah Harry flicked through the dark green book; he took a sip of butterbeer, thinking carefully. This would take some time to read. He also had a limited amount of time. Students were usually allowed to keep a book for a little more than a month but Restricted books were only allowed to be kept for two and a half weeks.

That certainly was not enough time to look through each book. However, Harry had a simple solution for this. He would just use a copying charm. The downside to this was that he needed to copy three books. For that kind of thing he would need a special quill.

Harry remembered a shop in Hogsmeade that sold magical quills. He would just buy one during the next trip. One was coming up two day's before he had to return the books. He would make to read and make notes before hand as well.

Tapping his chin, Harry thought he should pay Kilian a visit tonight. He hadn't seen her in a while. He had much to tell. Closing his book carefully, Harry got ready for the rest of the day and couldn't help but smirk as he thought about future plans.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Well, here's my next chapter. Bit shorter than some others but I wanted to get the first week out of the way. Won't tell much of what will happen in the future since I want it to be a surprise! But, I did use a few parts from the first in the fifth book to make this chapter.

Please review! Reviews are like my drug! They keep me going.


	12. 12

I've gots the next chapta!! Enjoy!

Oh, I now have a job! I know, I did the squeeling dance. What can I say? I'm just a highschooler with a car and no income. I needed this. Updates won't come as fast as before. (Not that they were fast.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry hopped over a fallen tree quite cheerfully. The forest always seemed to make him happy. Being excited was an odd feeling to Harry. It was true that he got excited by many things, but the last few weeks had been both tiring and stressful. Not sleeping left a lot of time for thinking.

It was rather odd, Harry thought as he moved with a cat like grace through the trees. His mind was changing, and to say it was frightening wouldn't be all that far from the truth. He loved the new emotions he felt, especially when he was in the forest with Kilian, but other emotions and thoughts could easily beat back that happiness and excitement.

Harry was not foolish to think that he would be fine with just taking the potion once a week. Although he should take it twice a week, he didn't dare for fear of becoming addicted to it. Also, the person who took it also needed at least a few hours of sleep. Harry didn't even get a minute.

Harry was worried this could damage his mind and sanity. Sleep was essential for not only the body, but the mind. Not enough sleep could turn you insane. Harry already noticed his attitude changed easily, but put it off as just being a teenager.

The smarter and more Slytherin part of him disagreed. There was an extremely high chance that if Harry did not sleep for the next two months, his sanity could start slipping away. It would only get worse if the weeks dragged on. Harry could only hope the potion wouldn't lose its effect on him until he could figure out some way of keeping Voldemort out.

But there was another part of Harry that fought against this decision. That part of him was the one that loved to run through the forest at night, practice his shuriken's and to get away from it all. That part was his dragon side.

It would always be there, like another voice in his head that did not speak with words, but with emotions. The world was beautiful at night, Harry couldn't deny that. It was like looking into a whole new world. Harry vaguely wondered if he would think that way once he could fly. He was pretty sure he would.

"_Hello, Harry," Kilian greeted, shooting an arrow at a target and hitting the bull's-eye._

"_Hey," Harry called back, taking out his weapons and getting ready._

And then there was this new strength he had. The electricity his magic created, it was addicting and felt so good. It was his energy, but it wasn't like a drug. It was more like his endurance. It had been small at first, but with Harry's new training program it had grown.

"_Nice try, Harry," Kilian said, seeing him throw one shuriken at the target but miss the middle by at least five inches._

Harry's magic, and everyone else's for that matter, relied not only on practice and powerful spells, but physical activity. A broader, stronger body could handle more magic. Too much magic in a body that could not handle it could actually be ripped apart.

That was why most rituals that gave the caster more magic and power were forbidden. If the body could not handle it, there was simply no point.

_Harry grimaced at his target. "But not good enough. I can't even throw two yet"._

"_True, but then again, this is only the second week you have practiced with that type of weapon. You'll get better." Kilian turned back to her own weapon and shot another perfect bull's-eye_.

And through all this, Harry briefly wondered if it would all be worth it.

"_You're right," Harry said, taking out another shuriken and took careful aim. After about half a minute of eye the target, Harry let loose and watched at the shuriken only landed three inches away from the middle, causing him to grin._

And Voldemort. What about all his mind tricks and manacles? Harry and the Headmaster had had very little luck with finding any information on them. There was simply no explanation of how they came to be.

Every single book Harry read was the same. It all told of how one creature was put under the power of the manacles and what they did, but other than that, there was nothing.

"_How's it going at your school?" Kilian asked._

_Harry shrugged, tossing another shuriken. "Pretty good, actually. Herbology is pretty good since Neville is my partner and my Transfiguration and Charms grades have gone up a lot. Potions is better than ever, which pisses off Snape, but I'm not doing so well in History or Astronomy."_

_Kilian snorted angrily at him._

_Harry blinked up at her, bewildered. "What?"_

"_How can you be failing Astronomy? Reading the stars is so simple that even a month old fawn can do it!"_

_Harry glared. "So sorry for not being a centaur," he said sarcastically._

"_You should be. Now, come here."_

_Harry stared at her suspiciously. "What for?"_

"_I'm going to teach you Astronomy."_

_Harry's jaw dropped._

But there was still a chance that Harry could break the manacles. It wasn't a sense of using brute force, but more with mind magic or perhaps sheer will. Professor Henson, the Ancient Runes professor, had examined the manacles and, under a sworn oath, had not told anyone else.

It had taken a full week for Professor Henson to write down all of the runes engraved on the manacles but even then Harry was sure the overexcited teacher hadn't gotten all of them. Professor Henson was not the best at hiding his excitement. Ancient Runes excited him, and even in a situation such as Harry's, he ignored all around him and treated Harry like an experiment.

It was frustrating, but Harry bore with it. It wouldn't do any good to punch the teacher in the face when he was the only one to fully understand the ancient carving. But that still didn't mean Harry would be left out in the dark.

What was more frustrating than having to deal with a professor who thought of him as an experiment was receiving curious and disbelieving looks when he asked for some books on Ancient Runes. What, did both Henson and Dumbledore think he would sit back and let them do all the work? No, Harry would be the one to find a way to break the magic and control, not them.

The few books Harry did have when he bought them in Knockturn Diagon Alley proved to be too hard to understand. And although he didn't buy any books on the manacles, since he wasn't thinking at the time, he still managed to buy many books on classes he didn't take and even some that Hogwarts did not offer.

"_Are you seriously going to teach me Astronomy?" Harry questioned, raising an eyebrow at the frustrated Centaur._

"_Of course I am, you foolish human," Kilian said. Harry rolled his eyes. "Now, do you know anything about the stars?"_

_Harry looked up at the sky for a minute before pointing up. "There's the big dipper."_

He could practically feelthe disbelief rolling off Kilian.

Hermione was a godsend, Harry decided. After he had explained his problem with Professor Henson, she immediately took him under her wing and taught him the basics. Harry had never felt more grateful to anyone in his life. Hermione would make a great teacher.

She had a large amount of patience, and she did not snap at him or give him pity when he could not understand something. And because of that, Harry knew he could take a step, although a bit small, toward letting her in on his secrets. He showed her some of his advance books, although none of the dark books, and she leeched onto them like a flea to a dog.

Ron was another matter entirely. When Harry showed some of his advance books, once again being careful at not showing any darker books, Ron had instead only demanded to know why Harry hadn't shown them to him earlier and why he was studying so much.

"_We'll start off with an easy one," Kilian said in a brisk tone. Oh yea, she meant business. Harry assumed it was because a Centaur would not associate with someone who couldn't even handle Astronomy. "That one is Corvus, also known as the Raven."_

_Harry looked up at the stars, trying to find where she was pointing at._

Ron hadn't even tried to study the advanced subjects Harry and Hermione had buried themselves into. And for some reason, Harry just didn't care. For the first time in his life, he felt smart. After so many years of being called dumb or never being able to amount to anything by the Dursley's made everything different.

Harry could truthfully say he understood some of the more advance forms of magic, even if it was just the basics. But still, Harry was content.

"_Surely you know about the Milky Way?" Kilian asked in a sarcastic tone._

"_Of course," Harry responded with a sly grin. "I know that it is made up from two-hundred billion to four-hundred billion stars and have thousands of clusters of nebulae and bunched up planets."_

_Kilian just waved him off. "Anybody could know that."_

_Harry responded by rolling his eyes._

And at the end of the day, when Harry questioned if it was worth it…

"_C'mon, slowpoke," Kilian called, galloping off. "The best place for stargazing is in a clear field." _

"_I'm coming, I'm coming," Harry grumbled after her, running to catch up and cracking a grin._

"_And while you train on getting faster," Kilian said with a drawl, "make sure you practice on your balance."_

_Harry scowled when he tripped over a root he hadn't seen until the last minute. Harry had always prided himself on having good balance, especially after making spectacular dives in Quidditch. _

"_And how do you want me to do that?" Harry asked with the same drawl as Kilian._

"_Figure that out for yourself, human."_

"_What, no hints for little ol' me?" Harry asked playfully._

_Kilian snorted, swishing her tail as she turned to face Harry. "Not this time."_

…he knew the answer was yes.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Ok, listen up you lot," Angela said sternly, her face so set that not even Fred or George made a joke. "We have a bunch of wannabie's over there that want to make the team."

Harry, along with the rest of the team, glanced at the dozen or so students that showed up for tryouts. It was a great loss, having Wood from the team, but having new blood was always good. Harry grinned at Ron, hoping his terrified friend would ease up.

"We need to be tough on these kiddies. Don't hold back, you all know how tough a game can be and not everything goes according to the rules."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Good," Angela said firmly. "Katie, Alicia and I will warm them up a bit, but after a while, I want us all to start switching positions." She turned to Harry. "That means you'll have to be a Chaser and a Beater. I know you don't have any experience with it but Wood once told me you were pretty good."

Harry blushed, remembering the frantic swing he made when the iron ball made a rush for his head in first year.

"No need to worry about the snitch, especially since no one is dumb enough to challenge you for the seeker position."

"You know," Fred said with a frown, "for being a bunch of brave fools, not one Gryffindor challenged us for our position."

Katie rolled her eyes. "Why else, Fred? It's because we've been on for so long that no one is stupid enough to challenge us or have had as much experience as us."

George sighed dramatically. "What a shame. "And here I was hoping to pick my replacement for next year."

"You can worry about that later," Angela said, shouldering her broom. "Right now, we have Keeper tryouts. We were lucky to book the field today, especially with that Umbridge woman. She's been absolutely horrid to all but the Slytherin's."

Everyone turned to look at Harry.

Harry blinked, somewhat taken aback. "What?"

George clapped him on the back. "Now, it's not like we blame you," he said good naturedly, "but there have been rumors of you breaking desks in her DADA class."

"Err…" Ok, so that happened, what, three time? It wasn't his fault that woman made him so angry that his magic lost control and lashed out at the desk. He had almost raised his voice at her as well, but if Tagger hadn't stopped him, he was sure he would have had a week of detentions from her.

"Just be sure to watch that temper of yours," Alicia said cheerfully.

"Yea, yea," Harry waved them off. "Now, what about finding us a new Keeper?"

"Woot, woot!" the twins yelled and jumped off to the frightened kids.

"Merlin help me," Angela muttered as she walked up to them as well.

Harry, Alicia and Katie laughed before meeting up with the others.

"Listen up!" Angela shouted. "We're gonna start out with a few warm ups. I want you all to fly around the entire field three times. This is not a race, so do not think the first one here gets on the team or the last does not. Alright, go!"

Harry watched as all the kids who tried out took off, Ron somewhere in the middle. Jumping up onto his own broom, Harry eagerly joined the twins in the air. He took a deep breath, feeling the cool air rush all around him.

The wind felt so good against him, ruffling his hair and beating against his face. The smell of fresh air being so refreshing and wonderful coursed through his body.

If only his wings could…

"Harry!"

Harry snapped his eyes open, not aware he had shut them. "Huh? What?"

Fred flew up to him. "Your hand," he whispered furiously.

Harry looked down and gasped. "Crap." His hand had transformed into a scaly claw. Quickly reverting back to normal, Harry let out a sigh. No one else had seen it.

"How did that happen?" George asked quietly, staring at the large group making their second loop around the field.

"I don't know," Harry said. "I was just thinking about how good the wind felt and as wishing my wings could make me feel this way."

"Ah, so that's it," George said, a strange light in his eye.

"Happened to us a couple of times in the beginning," Fred added. "Sometimes we would get these instincts to make a den or perhaps eat a certain type of food for weeks. We noticed all you eat is meat now."

Harry nodded. "So I guess I'll just have to watch out for stuff like that."

They flew in silence, watching the group make their final lap and head over to the Keeper goals.

"Angela's being tough on them."

George grinned widely. "Well, she's no Oliver Wood, but she's one tough captain!"

"She needs to be, especially since this is her last year and she wants the Quidditch cup," Fred said, raising his eyebrows at his brother.

George ignored Fred and flew off to join the others. Fred winked at Harry before flying off, leaving a very bemused Harry.

The rest of tryouts were grueling for both the team and the ones who were trying out. Harry was greatly relieved that he had been working out; otherwise he feared his arm would fall out from throwing the quaffle and hitting the bludgers so much. His respect for his teammates grew quite a bit after that.

Three tests had been performed on the 'wannabies,' as Fred and George liked to call them, since they believed no one could take Oliver's place. The first test had been endurance. They had to fly back and forth as fast as they could from the far left hoop to the far right hoop in ten minutes.

If you slowed down, you were less likely to make the team since endurance was essential for Quidditch. The second one was much tougher than the first. The quaffle was thrown right at the Keeper, but a bludger was always right behind it. Not only did each person have to catch a quaffle that had been thrown very, very hard, but they had to dodge the bludger.

There had been a lot of accidents from that particular test, and Harry was not afraid to admit these tests were somewhat scary, especially with a red faced Angela yelling out orders.

They were at the final test. Harry was happy to see that Ron had made it so far. Most of the group had either given up or had been sent to the Hospital Wing, courtesy of Fred and George Weasely when it was their turn as beaters. For the last test, the remaining four were to stop the quaffle, no matter where it went, and avoid the bludger. They had to do this five times.

"Ron looks like he's about to faint," George said as he floated beside Harry.

"He'll be fine," Harry said, defending his friend.

However, it was pretty obvious that Ron was pretty scared. He kept fidgeting and was very pale.

"Well, at least there's only four left," George said. Harry nodded in agreement.

He watched as the first two managed to block three out of five shots. The second actually caught the fourth but dropped it as soon as he saw the bludger. The next up was Ron, and Harry flashed him a thumbs up. Ron grinned back weakly but showed strong determination as he faced Katie.

Katie smirked at him. "Ready, Weasely?"

Ron nodded.

Grinning her evil grin, Katie threw the quaffle at the far left hoop. Harry's heart dropped as Ron shot off in the wrong direction. Ron tried to turn around to catch the large ball, but the devious bludger made him give up on that one.

"Ron's not doing too hot," Tagger said, watching the proceedings with interest. The small dragon had been quiet the entire time, but occasionally gave a small opinion.

Harry tilted his head, showing Tagger that he agreed with him.

The last four shots were all successfully caught, however, and Harry had to fight the urge to cheer for Ron. He had to show equal support to all, and showing favoritism was not good.

"Ok," Angela said. "Next up is David Raver."

Harry assessed the last player. David Raver, a sixth year with a large build, light brown hair and teal eyes, flew up confidently. He was good, Harry admitted. The guy had a lot of endurance and he just radiated calmness. He would be an excellent addition to the team, and seemed to work well with others, but being loyal to Ron, Harry hoped David didn't save all the throws.

Still, despite being loyal to Ron, Harry was impressed with David's saves. Not only did he catch the first one and escape the bludger with plenty of time to spare, he kicked the quaffle back at Angela and punched it the third and fourth time, once again, directly at Angela. Yea, Harry was _very _impressed.

Not only did David block each shot, he had hit it back to one of the chasers without wasting time, which was no small feat, mind you. Even Oliver had trouble with that. Harry watched with barely concealed interest as he saw Angela make the last shot. Although they would still have to talk amongst each other to decide who out of the four made Keeper, this could very well tell who would be getting that position.

"Rhg!" Angela heaved the quaffle with all of her strength. Harry watched, as did everyone else, as David shot out toward the left hoop. His fingers, almost grasping the quaffle, drew back as the bludger, who had gained an ungodly amount of speed, flew right past him. Good thing too, otherwise David would be missing a few a fingers.

David scowled angrily but shook his head and just grinned as he landed down with he others. He was interesting, Harry decided.

"So what do you think, Angela?" Katie asked.

Angela shrugged. "The first guy, John or Johnny I think, was ok. He could definitely use more practice and maybe with about a years worth of training he can tryout again. The second guy is out for sure. That leaved Ron Weasely and David Raver. What do you guys think?"

"Ron's pretty good," Harry said slowly. "He saved four quaffle's and with a bit more practice he could be a force to be reckoned with." Harry paused for a moment. "But that David Raver was something else. He's calm and seems like someone who can really work well with others. I wonder what he's like chasing a snitch. That would be fun to find out."

Alicia snorted and ruffled his hair. "Think about that later, runt."

Harry mock scowled at her. "I'll tell you what I told Hermione," he said, folding his arms and looking serious.

"And what's that?" Alicia asked with a grin.

"I'll be taller than most of you by the end of the year."

The rest of the team snorted.

"Ok, while Harry keeps dreaming here," Angela said.

"Hey!"

"We need to pick a Keeper," Angela continued, ignoring Harry. "What do you two think?" she asked the twins.

"Well, we would be lying if we weren't picking favorites if we said our brother," Fred said thoughtfully.

"But we're not here to pick favorites," George added. "The Raver kid has some talent."

Fred, George and Harry exchanged a few glances at Ron as the three girls talked amongst themselves. They already knew what Angela's decision would be.

Angela nodded and walked over to the nervous group.

"Ok, listen up!" Angela shouted. "We've all come to a decision, but first I want you all to know that you did a spectacular job and those that did not make the team still have time to make the team next year."

Harry inwardly grimaced as he thought about Ron's reaction. Angela was getting close to making the announcement.

Angela looked at David and smiled. "Welcome to the team, David."

David grinned, his eyes wide with shock. "Thank you," he said, shaking Angela's hand. "I promise I'll do my best."

"That's all I ask for," Angela told him. "For the rest of you, I'm sorry, but don't leave with hard feelings. You all did great and with a little more training each of you are bound to get a spot next year."

Harry glanced at Ron, and blinked a little as he saw an extremely angry Ron. His face was red and his eyes, they were so accusing. "Ron—" Harry started, but broke off as Ron turned away and stalked off to the castle.

"Don't take it personally," Fred said, leaning on his broom as he stared at Ron's retreating form. "But he kind of expected the position to be handed to him. Ron's my brother and I love him, but he just didn't have what Raver over there had."

Harry didn't say anything. He clenched his fist. He would need to talk to Ron soon.

"Harry Potter?" a voice behind him asked.

Harry turned and saw David.

David stuck out his arm. "I guess we're team mates."

Harry returned the gesture and grinned. "I guess we are. Just to warn you," Harry said dramatically, eyeing Angela, "but I think you picked a bad year to join. See, Angela here will be trying to beat Wood's intense speeches." Harry smiled, mischief dancing in his eyes. "Think you can handle it?"

"I'm not that bad, runt!" Angela called.

"I love you too!" Harry called back.

David chuckled nervously. "Everyone here is pretty tight."

"That's 'cuz we've all been playing together for a few years," Katie said.

"I'm sure you'll grow onto us," Alicia said with a smirk. "That is, if you can handle the twins over there."

David warily eyed the cheshire grins on Fred and George's face's and stood bravely. "I said I'll do my best on the team, no matter what it is, even facing the famous Weasely twins."

"Famous are we?" George asked.

"Of course! Handsome fellows like us were sure to attract attention."

"I agree! You know, I think I might just like ol' Ollie's replacement."

The twins hugged a very bemuse David at the same time and broke apart after about thirty seconds.

David scratched his head. "Uhm…"

Harry reached up to him, his hand almost on his forehead.

"What are you doing?" David asked nervously.

"Saving you from an unfortunate incident," Harry responded and grabbed the rubber fly off of the other boys' head. Harry stared at the fly. "What is this?"

"3… 2… 1!" the twins screamed.

Harry only had a millisecond to toss the rubber item. The small fly erupted in green smoke, covering the twins from head to toe. Once the smoke cleared away, Fred and George were completely green. Hair, skin, even clothes. Two devil horns sprouted from their forehead and tiny, eight inch wings sprouted from their backs.

"Hey!" they shouted in unison.

Angela sighed. "Welcome to the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, David."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry smiled tiredly as he put his broom next to his bed. Even though he was disappointed that Ron hadn't gotten to be Keeper, he was glad it was David who made the team. He had a lot of skill and warmed up quite a bit, especially after what happened to Fred and George.

Speaking of the two Weasely's, they were in a corner in the Common Room, looking quite evil with their new look, and could be heard from across the room how they would get revenge on Harry.

"Bring it on!" Tagger had shouted at them. "Harry can beat both your asses!" A proud Tagger had turned back to Harry, expecting backup but only gawked as Harry ascended the stairs to his room.

Harry was so exhausted and into changing his clothes that when a hand landed on his shoulder; he jumped about a foot in the air and brought out his wand.

"Woah! Harry it's me!" Ron exclaimed, staring at the wand in his face.

Harry sighed. "Sorry, Ron."

Ron just nodded and stayed silent.

Harry fidgeted as the silence wore on. To make the silence more bearable, Harry took out an Ancient Runes book to take down so he could study with Hermione.

"Why, Harry?"

Ah, so he finally asked.

"Why what, Ron?"

Ron's ears turned red. "Why did you choose that sixth year over your best mate?"

"I didn't, Ron," Harry told him patiently. "I gave my opinion about both you and David. It was Angela that made the decision."

"David, is it? I seem to recall saving as many goals as he did."

"It's not just about the saves, Ron," Harry said, this time in exasperation. "There's more to it than that. There's skill and…"

"So you're saying I'm not good enough?" Ron demanded.

"What? No! I didn't say that, Ron."

"Well, sure as good said it!" Ron said angrily. "What? Am I not good enough to be on famous Harry Potter's team?"

Harry stared, not believing what he was hearing. This was fourth year all over again. Harry honestly could not deal with this, especially _now_. "Ron," Harry said carefully, "there's more to this than just Quidditch, isn't there?"

Ron mumbled something.

"What was that?"

"Secrets!" Ron just blurted out. "What's with all the secrets?"

"What secrets are you talking about?" Harry asked, wondering gif he had been too obvious about certain things. It was true he would tell Ron and Hermione a few things in the next few months, but it was still too early.

"The trunk!" Ron said, pointing to the trunk next to Harry's bed. "Why does that have anti-theft charms and a numbing charm on it?"

"You tried to get into my trunk?" Harry asked, starting to get a little angry.

"And Diagon Alley! And studying. Harry, what's with all the studying?"

"Diagon Alley," Harry said with a laugh. "Is that all you care about! Sometimes I just need to keep things to myself, Ron. Everybody does that! And as for studying, I'm actually enjoying it." Harry continued before Ron could say anything in surprise. "And I love to practice new spells and exercise in the morning.

"I enjoy getting more and more powerful everyday. The feeling I get when I know I've accomplished a difficult spell or solved a question to some answer that plagues me really makes me feel good. Do you get what I'm saying, Ron?" Harry asked quietly. "If I haven't spent much time with you, I'm sorry, but Ron," Harry said weakly, "do we always have to be together twenty-four seven?"

Ron scowled. "It's not like that; it's just that you're my best mate, Harry. We used to do _everything_ together. Why can't it just stay like that?"

Harry stared. It suddenly came to him that even though he had decided to study with as much vigor as possible and had matured quite a bit, Ron had not. Ron also didn't have a drive to become strong. He didn't have an old, powerful enemy after him.

But he did have brothers he wanted to surpass, Harry reminded himself.

"Ron, you know I've offered to study and practice spells with you and Hermione. Hermione has taken the offer, why not you?"

"Because it's studying," Ron defended.

"So?" Harry demanded. "Didn't you hear what I said earlier? I _want_ to get strong. We have O.W.L.s this year. Pretty soon, we won't be in Hogwarts anymore. Three years will pass by quickly, and if we don't have a good teacher to teach us what we need, I sure as hell am not going to sit by and do nothing. When I leave Hogwarts and look for a career, I want to be powerful."

This time it was Ron that stared. "Don't you even hear what you're saying? To me, it sounds like you care about nothing but power. Is that all you care about? What happened to caring about your friends, huh!?"

"Ron…"

"No," Ron interrupted. "If you're going to turn your back on your friends, you're no better than You-Know-Who!"

"That's uncalled for!" Harry snarled. He didn't have to take this. Just because Ron didn't like his new study habit did not give him any right to say such a thing.

"I think it is, Harry," Ron said boldly, standing over Harry. Harry didn't back down. Ron just snorted scornfully and left the room, leaving Harry alone.

Harry fumed silently. He was _not_ like Voldemort, and never would be. Just because he wanted to get a little stronger and learn to defend himself didn't mean he was power hungry. And what was wrong with being powerful? Dumbledore was strong but no one bugged him about it.

"Don't dwell on this too much, Harry," Tagger said, growling a bit as he circled the room. "Let Ron cool down, this is one argument where you are not the one that needs to apologize."

Harry nodded. "You're right, but I just don't understand why such a little as Quidditch would blow Ron's top off."

"He's wanted to be on the team for a while, Harry," Tagger reminded him gently. "Now, I'm not saying he acted irrational and it certainly wasn't your call to choose him, but maybe a few kinder words could have been spoken."

Harry hung his head. "I didn't… I thought…"

"I know," Tagger said quietly. "Things will be alright with time."

"Thanks, Tagger."

"No problem. Oh, and don't forget to take that potion tonight."

Harry grimaced. "Might as well just get it over with and blow off a little steam."

"Good call."

Harry jumped into his trunk and shut the lid before heading toward his personal potions lab. His nose twitched as he entered the room before making his way over to a silver cauldron.

Filling a vial with exactly 1/3 cups of the light blue liquid, Harry downed it all, making a face as he did so. It had a horrible taste, reminding Harry of raw onions and mustard. Quite an odd combination but the potion still served its purpose as Harry felt his body fill with energy.

"Ready for some more lessons?" Tagger called, already heading toward the small gym.

Harry nodded as he followed Tagger, his eyes resting on the egg he had gotten from Knockturn Alley for a few seconds.

He couldn't help but wonder when it would hatch…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Harry, will you at least tell me why you and Ron aren't talking?"

Harry shrugged and leaned on his hand with his elbow next to his breakfast plate. "I dunno, just a little fight. Ron's a bit mad about not making the Quidditch team and doesn't like that I've been studying so much lately."

Hermione huffed. "That is completely ridiculous!"

"Yea, I know."

"Harry…"

Harry stayed silent.

"Harry." This time the voice was much more firm. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

Harry felt his shoulders slump. Even with the potion from last night, he felt horribly tired from all the stress. He had only worked out for an hour before spending the entire night working on Occlumency. While he had gone a long ways because of that, he was slightly held back because of Ron's words.

"Hermione," Harry said quietly, "do you think I'm like Voldemort?"

Hermione blinked, not expecting such a question. "What brought this on?"

"Well, you know with all the studying and stuff. Me wanting to be more powerful and learn new spells, stuff like that. Does that make me power hungry?"

"_What?" _Harry glared as Hermione started laughing. "I'm sorry, Harry," Hermione said from in between giggles, "but that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. So what if you want to study and learn? That's what a school is for!"

"I guess your right," Harry said carefully. "But am I not spending enough time with my friends because of that?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Harry, we can handle a little time away from each other. We're not five. I've been doing the same thing. With all the homework and reports we've been getting, I've had had to spend more time in the library. You've noticed, right?"

Harry nodded. "Yea, but Ron—"

"Forget Ron," Hermione said impatiently. "Jut because Ron is acting like a child does not mean you have done anything wrong. You're the one that's matured, Harry. And while I do know that one of the reasons you want to be strong is to stand up to Vol…Vold…" Hermione paused to take a deep breath and said, "Voldemort."

Harry raised an eyebrow, smiling at the blushing Hermione. "See, 'Mione? Not to hard."

Hermione shot him a look. "But I also know that you're studying because you enjoy it. I can see how happy it makes you to master a complicated spell and I can tell how interested you are in Ancient Runes, even if your interest was only sparked by that horrible manacle."

Hermione scowled at the invisible manacle on Harry's wrist. Harry grinned and patted her back. "Thanks, Hermione. You're a real friend."

Hermione beamed. "I'm here for you whenever you need something or need to talk, that's what friends are for."

"I know that, Hermione, and I'd like to take you up on that offer."

Hermione lifted her eyebrows, trying to mimic Harry but failed. "Oh? And just what is that you need this time?"

Harry smiled, mischief sparkling in his eyes. "Well, I just need some advice. What do you know about business?"

Before Hermione could say anything, the Great Hall was filled with hundreds of owls, alerting the students that it was mail time. Harry looked up hopefully, wondering if the small, sonic owl would be among the rest. He was disappointed when no sonic owl came to him but his disappointment disappeared when Hedwig soared over to him and dropped a few letters in his lap.

"Thanks, girl," Harry said, handing a few stripes of bacon to Hedwig. "How's Padfoot doing? I haven't seen you guys for a couple of days."

Hedwig gave him a hoot that could have been translated as, 'Come visit or else.'

Harry chuckled and rubbed her feathers, earning an affectionate nip. Once Hedwig left, Harry turned to his letters. He smiled in satisfaction and eagerness as he saw a Gringotts letter and a letter from the Werewolf Center. He put those in his bag so he could read those in private. Instead, he turned to the third letter and opened it.

_Hey, Stray!_

_How's life at the castle? Hopefully good, cuz I need to hear some interesting news. I've been bored out of my mind all week. Nothing new back at the garage. Although, Gadget did finish a new car he had been working on for about three months. He managed to sell it to a nice little company and made quite a bit._

_So business is ok, but my personal life sucks! No boyfriends to make me feel better. You wouldn't happen to know any hot guys interested in a wolf demon, do you? Anyway, we gotta get you back here sometime. Maybe during vacation or something. When do you get out of school for a while? I know you have Christmas, but I was just wondering if you had something before that. Make sure you find a way to get here!_

_Oh, and Kaz took off. She sends her regards but she said it was time to take off. Apparently Kaz needed to catch up with her tribe and move on. I have no idea where she went or if she'll even come back. Oh, that's kind of rude to write about. Oh well!_

_Jack say's hi and so do the others. Yes, even Switch, even if she won't admit it. Maybe you should write a letter to her. Remember, I know that you know that I know that you have the hots for Switch._

_From, Ash._

Harry shook his head as he read the letter. The hots for Switch? Not likely. He was interested in any type of relationship like that. Besides, he liked Switch just as a friend, even if her scowl was more intimidating than Snape's.

"Who's that from?" Hermione asked.

"Just a friend I made over the summer."

"When did you make a friend over the summer? She's obviously a witch since she wrote back with Hedwig."

Harry glanced at his bushy haired friend. "She was the girl who did my hair." He ran his hand through his hair, glancing at a few green strands. "We ended up talking for a while and kind of become pen pals."

"She works at a barber shop?" Hermione asked.

"What?" Harry asked, blinking at her.

"The girl you're writing to. She works in the barber shop where you got your hair done?"

"Oh! Oh, yea, she does."

Hermione gave a strange look but stood up instead of saying something. "C'mon, we need to get to History."

Harry nodded and got up as well. "Yea, class starts in five min— oof!" Harry slammed into the table, getting eggs and juice all over him and causing quite a few heads to turn his way.

Harry lifted his face out of some egg and glared at the one that pushed him down. "You!"

Vox, the blue little demon, chirped loudly and buried his head into Harry's back.

"Gerroff!" Harry struggled to get the winged beast off him but a wrestling match was ensued as Vox made no move to let go. "Hermione, get him off me!"

By then, every single head had turned to stare at the commotion. Laughter was coming from each house and Harry soon gave up in a huff, glaring at the little menace.

"What's the matter, Potter?" Malfoy's taunting voice rand throughout the laughter. "Can't hand a little rat? Or perhaps you're so weak that…"

What ever Malfoy was about to say, no one ever found out because Vox launched himself at the unfortunate blond. Vox had apparently taken offense to being called a rat.

"Get it away from me!" Draco shouted, trying to wave off the frustrated Eerie and still get a good curse in. "Get it away, I said!" Harry watched it all, amusement clearly written on his face.

"Potter!" a voice snarled. Harry groaned and turned to face a livid Snape. "Control that creature of yours and get it out of here."

Harry threw a bewildered look at the angry animal and wondered how he could get it to calm down. Should he? Malfoy running around screaming like a little girl was pretty entertaining…

"Potter!"

Or maybe he should do something.

"Er, Vox!" Harry called. "Vox!" he called again when the Eerie didn't turn to him. Sighing, Harry grabbed a piece of ham and walked over to the Slytherin table. "VOX!"

Vox turned around and chirped happily at the sight of fresh meat. Snatching the piece of meat, Vox flew off with a thankful squawk, but not before hitting Harry over the head with his tail.

"Bloody thing," Harry muttered, rubbing his head.

"Potter."

Harry sighed as he heard Professor Snape for the third time. "Yes, Professor?"

"That will be thirty points from Gryffindor for disrupting breakfast."

Harry's jaw dropped at the unfairness. "Disrupting? It was that blasted Eerie!"

"Another ten for arguing with a teacher," Snape said with a sneer. "Shall I take more for being a slob?"

"A slob…?" Harry looked at himself and realized he was covered in food and juice.

"I think fifteen points will be enough."

Harry glared and pulled out his wand. With a flick of his wrist, he was completely clean. "There, happy now?"

Harry scowled and walked off, not listening as Hermione started speaking. When they finally reached Binns classroom, Harry just plopped down in farthest seat and stared out the window.

"Harry," Hermione whispered quietly as Professor Binns started his lecture.

Harry glanced at her. "Sorry, Hermione, but today is just not a good day. That little demon follows me everywhere, Ron is being a git, Snape is once again being unfair, and to top it all off, I have Divination next. Life kind of sucks for me right now."

"Then next time you'll make a decision that will benefit you in the future, and not take the easy way out," Hermione told him.

Harry rolled is eyes, thinking of her extreme dislike for Divination. "Maybe…"

For the rest of class, Harry just took notes for the first thirty minutes before taking out a fresh piece of paper and a pencil. What should he draw? Harry tapped his chin in thought. He was in a strange mood, so he might as well draw something strange.

"You're drawing a crow?" Tagger asked after a while as he watched Harry draw a large figure with a beak.

Harry eyed Tagger for a moment before shaking his head, just enough for it to look like he was clearing his head. Tagger stared at the picture that was slowly coming to life. It wasn't a crow, but a raven. And not just a raven, but a demon. Or could it be considered an anthro?

Harry had looked up demons and found that another term for some demon was anthro. That usually involved animals but Harry wasn't sure if was a fake term, if they meant the same thing, or was something completely different.

The picture was indeed a Raven demon. Standing on it's legs and holding out its talon like arms, Harry drew a bit more detail on its wings on its back. Its head was to the side, showing only one eye but as Harry shadowed it, its eyes becoming black, they almost held a sinister look to it. Its beak was opened just a little bit, which could make someone believe it was smirking.

The tail feathers, dark and pointy, stood out nicely against the wings that were slightly folded. Harry took a deep breath as he started on the chest and finished detailing the legs.

"Oh my gosh," Hermione said once class was over, looking at Harry and his drawing. To Hermione, Harry looked almost like he was in a trance. His eyes were slightly glazed over, telling Hermione that he enjoying this thoroughly and was deeply into this. But what freaked her out was the drawing. While the strange creature was beautiful, a severed head held its hands made the picture much too gory for Hermione.

But that was only one of the things Hermione noticed. Harry was drawing with his left hand.

"Harry," Hermione said, breaking Harry out of his stupor. "Class is over."

Harry blinked up at her. "Oh." He started to put his stuff away but Hermione stopped him.

"Harry, I didn't know you could draw so well."

Harry shrugged, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"But why did you have to make it so gory?"

"Gory?" Harry repeated.

Hermione pointed to the severed head that had blood dripping off of that. "I'm afraid to see that colored," Hermione joked.

Harry stared at the drawing. "I guess I did draw that."

Hermione stared but decided to prod. "I didn't know you were left-handed either."

"I'm not," Harry replied, finally putting the picture away.

"You were drawing that picture with your left hand," Hermione pointed out.

Harry didn't say anything.

"Harry, draw something for me," Hermione said, an almost knowing glint in her eye.

"Why? What do you want?" Harry asked, completely bewildered.

"Because I want to check something. I think I might know why you didn't realize you switched hands. Um, and what to draw?" Hermione thought for a moment. "Draw me a pretty flower holding a bloody knife."

Harry stared. "Are you serious?"

Hermione folded her arms. "I am."

Harry snorted. "If that will satisfy you."

"Don't worry, Harry, it will."

Hermione stared at Harry as he began to draw. She helped lead him through the hallway so he didn't run into people as they both made their way to their next class. Although she kept an eye out for people who might run into them, Hermione never stopped watching Harry's hands.

When Harry finished the flower, he wiped his head and switched hands.

Hermione didn't say anything. Instead, she watched Harry's eyes get that glazed look, but he was not out of it. His left hand drew the blood almost expertly, drawing a few drops falling to the ground.

Harry stared at the picture when he was done before handing it back to Hermione. "Here you go."

Hermione beamed. "I think I know what happens!"

"Err, what?" Harry asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "For only the thing that we were trying to figure out. Look, you started out with your right hand because you were drawing something nice, calm, beautiful, stuff like that. But when you moved onto the darker stuff, like blood and gore, you switched to your left hand.

"I think that when you want to draw peaceful hands, you only your right. As for the darker parts of art, you move to your left hand instinctively."

Harry felt his eyebrows rise in bewilderment. "Is that even normal?"

"I don't really know," Hermione told him truthfully. "I never really studied art because I never really saw the point."

"What, you didn't have an imagination when you were a child?" Harry teased.

Hermione mock scowled. "No, Harry. I believed in science, history, stuff that I could see."

"I bet you almost had a heart attack when you found out you were a witch."

"Almost," Hermione agreed. "My family and I thought it was a cruel joke at first, but when Professor Flitwick levitated the tables and did a juggling act, we knew it was true."

"Professor Flitwick came to your house?" Harry asked.

"Yes, teachers usually give muggleborn students their letter in person," Hermione told him.

Harry frowned. "They didn't do that with me," he told her quietly. "They actually sent me hundreds of letters, but I didn't even get to open one until Hagrid picked me up."

"Well, you _are_ Harry Potter," Hermione teased. "Maybe they decided to do something different?"

"Maybe. Anyway, letters aside, do you think it's normal to switch hands like that?"

"I don't really know," Hermione said again. "Why don't you ask Professor Flitwick? He's made many magical painting using advance charms. I don't think it's the same, really, but why not give it a go?"

"I think I will. Anyway, want to meet in the library after this period? I need to finish that essay for Snape and I wanted to work a little more on Ancient Runes and Hieroglyphics. I wanted to see if they're related somehow."

Hermione looked excited at the thought. "Ooh, I've never thought about something like that before. Egypt just never came to mind. Anyway, try not to kill each other when you see Ron, ok?"

"I can't make any promises, Hermione, but if he says something, I might just need Neville to whip out a giant plant and give it a knife to make him stop."

"Harry!" Hermione said exasperatedly.

"What?" Harry said innocently. "I mean, c'mon, Hermione, a flower and a knife?"

"It was the only thing I could think of," Hermione said defensively.

"Uh huh, suuuure."

"Well," Hermione said with a huff, "you need to get to class. It starts in five minutes and you are on the wrong side of the castle."

Harry looked around and noticed he was indeed in the wrong area. "Shit!"

"Watch your language, Harry!" Hermione called after him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Ron."

"Harry."

Ron didn't say anything else and Harry plopped down on his chair with a sigh. Class was going to be a long one. He was right when Professor Trelawney swept into the room with her usual dramatic flair and started the next lesson.

They had to do more dream stuff, all of which Harry made up, and everyone one was pretty much bored out of their minds. It was even worse when Ron refused to speak to Harry. Harry, a little more than annoyed, finally just hung out with Neville. Unfortunately, this only seemed to make Ron even angrier.

Honestly, what did the boy expect?

Did he think Harry would stay by his stubborn side and plead for forgiveness? Well, that certainly wouldn't be happening. Not by a long shot.

"I expect you all to start seeing a deeper meaning in your dreams," Trelawney said suddenly, looking each student critically in the eye. "I want a one foot essay on a specific dream that might be a road to your subconscious."

Jaws were dropped by this.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry was pretty sure there was some God out there that hated him. As if it wasn't bad enough that he couldn't sleep, was hunted by an evil Dark Lord, and couldn't talk to Ron, but now he was surrounded by a group of Slytherin's – alone.

Ron had pretty much abandoned Harry after Divination and Harry had been forced to walk alone to Potions. Even now, with class over and Harry the last one out, he had been abandoned.

"Well, well, well," Malfoy drawled. He smirked at Harry. "All alone, Potty? That's a bad move on your part, especially in dungeon territory."

Harry lifted an eyebrow. Dungeon territory? Could Malfoy possibly have picked a stupider name?

"What, got nothing to say?" Malfoy taunted.

"No, not really," Harry said neutrally. Seriously, he really didn't. Instead, he just eyed the ones surrounding him.

Crabbe and Goyle, Malfoy's faithful lackeys, were there of course, as well as Parkinson, Knot and one other that Harry didn't know. One kid, Harry noted, was leaning against the wall, not in the little fight or having anything to do with it, but was obviously watching the proceedings with great interest.

Harry frowned, thinking of who that was.

He didn't dwell on it for to long as he noticed Malfoy's wand. Harry whipped out his own, pointing it in between Malfoy's eyes.

Malfoy smirked, though Harry noted with satisfaction that there was a bit of fear in those gray eyes. "You don't have the guts, Potter." Malfoy's obvious discomfort did not keep his voice from speaking boldly.

"Are you willing to test that?" Harry drawled lazily. "Believe me, if you curse me, I will gladly curse you into oblivion."

Malfoy narrowed his eyes at Harry, wondering if he was telling the truth. His eyes, though, traveled to the others surrounding him and he smirked. "Maybe, but I don't think you can handle all of us at once."

"We'll see," Harry growled, wondering where on earth the other Gryffindor's were at a time like this.

There was a moment's pause before hexes were thrown out.

"_Stupefy!" Averte Statura!" "Incendio!" Temerarus!" "Stupefy!" "Stupefy!"_

"_Contego!_" Harry shouted, creating a shield that circled around him and protected him from the oncoming spells. He frowned as the three stunning spells ricocheted away and hit the walls, as did the other three curses. Crabbe and Goyle were obviously too thick to come up with any spell of their own or just followed Malfoy's every move.

Harry winced about as a conjunctivitis curse hit his shield. It didn't hurt him, but making this type of shield used up a lot of magic, and too many spells hitting it would cause him and the shield to grow weaker.

"_Sabbia!" _Harry shouted angrily, knocking both Crabbe and Goyle away with some vicious sand pellets.

"Hit him!" Malfoy snarled._ "Furnunculus!"_

Harry ducked the boil hex and could hear Pansy scream in horror as her face erupted into painful boils.

"You should really practice your aim, Malfoy," Harry taunted.

"Watch out for the one behind you!" Tagger shouted. Harry turned around and got hit in the shoulder with a cutting hex.

He hissed angrily as his shirt ripped a little, but surprisingly, he couldn't feel much pain.

"He has a stinkin' dragon's vest on," the unknown boy snarled at Malfoy. "Most of our curses are weak against that."

"Ignore it," Malfoy ordered, turning to face the kid. "Just do as you're told, Davis."

Malfoy turned back to Harry, thinking he would be held back by someone but was surprised to see a wand in his face. "Bad move, Malfoy," Harry said with a growl. _"Averte Statura," _he said lazily, causing Mafloy to fly back and land with a sickening crack.

Malfoy's little gang was silent, just staring at their fallen leader. They turned to look at Harry, fear noticeable on their faces.

"Get out," Harry said strongly but quietly.

They all scattered and Harry was left alone. It wasn't until he heard clapping did his gaze fall onto the other boy, the one who had leaned against the wall the entire time and did nothing.

"What an… interesting display."

Harry tensed. "What do you want?" Harry asked boldly, assessing this stranger.

The boy looked Harry over with a critical eye, as if deeming him worthy. He must have passed the test because the boy moved closer to Harry. Although Harry could see that the boy didn't have his wand out, he kept his own in his hand.

The boy nodded, eyeing the wand and it almost seemed like he was approving of Harry's method.

"What do you want?" Harry asked again, this time with impatience.

The boy shrugged. "Nothing, really. I've just been bored lately, especially with Malfoy taking over more so than usual. Slytherin Common Room ain't all that fun anymore."

"Right… and this has to do with me because?"

Again the boy shrugged. "I just wanted to watch the show. Besides, you've got me curious."

"And how did I spike your curiosity?" Harry asked warily.

"This morning at breakfast."

Harry blinked. "You mean with that bloody Eerie? If you want him, you can have him."

The boy laughed. "Not that, Potter. No, I'm interested in what you did after it went away."

Harry didn't say anything, clearly wondering what this guy was talking about.

The boy sighed. "Nonverbal magic, Potter," he said almost exasperatedly.

"Umm… what?"

The boy's eyebrows shot up. "Don't tell me you actually performed it without knowing when you banished all that food!"

Harry thought for a moment. "Oh, that."

"Oh, that," the boy mocked. "Potter, do realized how many people can perform nonverbal magic?"

"I don't know."

"Not a lot, Potter."

Harry was strongly reminded of P by that particular statement. "So, your point being?"

The boy smiled. "Well, I told you I was bored, didn't I?"

"Yes…"

"Congratulations, Potter, you're my new experiment."

"Your new what!?" Harry could feel a headache coming on. This boy was _really _weird.

"You heard me, Potter. Be sure to be more entertaining from now on. See ya."

"Hey, wait!" Harry called. "Who the heck are you?" Might as well ask his name.

"Blaise Zabini."

With that, he disappeared, leaving a very bewildered Harry. It wasn't until later that Harry thought it all over with Tagger that he realized what just happened. Zabini was a Slytherin and was good at hiding what he truly wanted but was still able to leave hints.

Earlier, he had stated that things were getting a little out of order in the Slytherin dormitories. Either Zabini really was a freak who needed the weirdest entertainment, or it was that he was looking for an ally.

"He's an interesting guy," Tagger said thoughtfully. "Keep an eye out for him and see what happens. Remember, he's pureblood and that means he knows a lot of stuff. Also, you need to remember that not all Slytherin's are with Voldemort."

Harry nodded carefully, thinking about the events. He had been lucky the others had thought he had a dragon vest on but that wasn't too surprising. It's not like someone would say, "Hey! You have scales growing on your arm!"

"Your right," he said. "We'll just have to see what Zabini really wants.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So this fake seer wants you to write about a dream that leads to your subconscious?" Kilian asked incredulously.

Harry nodded tiredly. "Yep, the crazy nut."

"What is wrong with you humans?" Kilian exclaimed, throwing up her hands in despair. "Except you, I mean," Kilian added when she saw Harry's face.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't know why the Headmaster allows her to stay. I mean, it's not like she's actually ever made a true prediction."

"Of course not," Kilian snapped. "Predictions are only made by Japanese fortune tellers. No other seer can predict anything, but they can still see tid bits into the future or past."

"Is there a difference?" Harry asked.

"Of course there is!"

"Yea… So how's it going with your herd?"

Kilian made a low neighing sound in anger. "Horrible as always. 'Don't do this, Kilian. Kilian, why can't you act more like a girl?' or 'What did I say about touching weapon?!'" Kilian snorted in anger.

Harry winced in sympathy. "Ouch. You have it bad."

Kilian waved it off. "It's not that bad with my parents. It's just this one Centaur. His name is Tak, son of Bane."

This time Harry winced in pity. "I remember Bane. Not a very nice fellow."

"Nice? Maybe when the stars disappear. Anyways, Tak, the annoying little git, keeps taunting me about the hunt."

"The hunt?" Harry asked.

"The hunt is when all the male Centaurs of a certain age go out into the forest for three days without adult supervision and bring back the largest kill they make. It's a large ceremony, kind of what makes them a man or something."

"Jealous?"

"Of course! Do you know how much I want to hunt and prove to everyone what a great weaponist a girl can be?"

Harry thought about it. "Yea, I know how much you want to be one."

Kilian and Harry didn't say anything after that, instead preferring to stay in a peaceful silence and practice their own weapons.

As morning started to come, Harry waved back to Kilian before she disappeared into the forest and hoped that she could prove how good she was at archery to her herd before he threw on his invisibility cloak.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Life at Hogwarts seemed to get even stranger for Harry. DADA was soon becoming his least favorite subject and Potions was just strange. Blaise had taken to being Harry's partner most of the time. By Blaise's snickers whenever Harry and Snape argued, Harry could surmise that the boy was very amused.

It also caused a lot of strange talk in the Gryffindor and Slytherin houses. Some would say Harry was going dark or was being lured into the Snakes nest. Other's said that Blaise was turning on the other Slytherin's or that Harry had talked him out of being 'dark.' All the rumors were completely ridiculous and Harry noticed that Blaise didn't even care.

The first few days had been taxing. Harry really had no idea how to react to the strange boy. Zabini seemed to be out of it most of the time, though not as bad Luna, and would say the strangest but most interesting things. Slowly, over the course of the week, Harry slowly got used to Blaise and his weird statements and obvious wants for entertainment.

Still, that didn't mean he didn't complain about Blaise almost every night with Kilian.

"At least this guy just wants some entertainment," Kilian had said, daring Harry to argue. "Tak is still an outright bastard who uses every excuse in the book to get me in trouble."

But Blaise also had the strangest tendency to appear whenever Harry was alone and disappear when others showed up. It was a bit spooky. Still, Harry couldn't really _do_ anything. Blaise hadn't attacked him and was more of a pest than anything.

But that didn't stop Tagger from saying he could be useful.

Ron was still ignoring him, and that was really taking its toll on Harry. It hurt that his best friend would give him the same treatment as last year, especially when he had promised nothing like that would ever happened again.

Harry wrote to Sirius, asking for his opinion, but was disappointed when Sirius just told him to wait for Ron to cool down. Not very helpful, Sirius.

Hermione and Kilian still managed to make him happy, and the letters to Ash were going well. It was just basically them telling each other how life was going. Meeting Dumbledore every Sunday was also a bit taxing, though more so with Harry's patience.

Nothing new had been found out about the blasted manacles and Harry was very tempted to just fall asleep and beg Voldemort for the answers. He didn't though, because he had his pride and stubbornness. He wouldn't fall asleep until he could block out Voldemort with his mind.

Which brought up another problem. Harry had no way of knowing if his shields could block anyone out since he had no one to practice with. Perhaps there was a book that could help explain?

Even with all these obstacles, Harry's life still managed to get even worse. Although all his orders for his wand came in, he had no way of going down to the Chamber just yet. He always had the strangest sense that someone was following him.

Classes were becoming more of a challenge, and Harry's miracle potion wasn't so amazing anymore. It seemed like it was losing its touch, because Harry was getting more and more tired even after only a month.

And if that wasn't bad enough, he hadn't received a letter from the sonic owl and Kilian's herd had decided to pay the two a surprised visit. It had shocked the both of them. Kilian had done a good job of sneaking away, but apparently this Tak was just a little more than eager to get Kilian into the worst kinds of trouble.

"Oh, shit," Harry whispered to Kilian as her herd surrounded them angrily one night. "What are they gonna do?"

"I don't know," Kilian whispered back. Her voice was strong, but Harry could detect a slight waver and knew she was scared. "Disobeying Centaur laws is huge. It could result it death or banishment."

Harry gulped. "Are you sure?"

"Dead sure."

"I was afraid you'd say that," Harry said, eyeing the Centaurs get closer and closer.

There was definitely going to be trouble.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hey! So sorry I haven't updated in a while. I'm even more sorry about this crappy chapter. I really needed a type of summary chapter that would basically start the actual story. Yes, I can tell that you're in disbelief. What? Didn't you already start the story? No.

This is basically the beginning that will be super duper important for not only the rest of the story but the sequel. So, I'm sorry if you're disappointed in this chapter but at least you'll be able to look forward to an exciting one! And I'm sorry if yu don't like ron the way he is, but I don't really like him.

This fight was just begging to happen. Ron is jealous prat who always wants to prove he's better. Don't worry, he'll get better. Remember, Ron has not matured yet.

Hmm, I think I'll update again in the middle of June because I'm super busy with homework, reports, a birthday party for a friend, and finals coming soon.

Oh! And my birthday is May 24th! I'm happy!

Please review!


	13. Deal with the Devil

Harry could never really understand how he got into so much trouble. He had always tried to stay out of trouble, especially as a young child since he knew the repercussions. He had been taught at an early age to stay out of sight and if that was impossible to stay as quiet as possible.

Harry had of course done all this, but because of Dudley or some other unseen force, Harry had always wound up in trouble. Those unseen forces could now be explained as accidental magic. However, the point was, Harry never went looking for trouble, trouble usually found him.

And here he was, yet another example of how trouble usually found him. At least a dozen Centaurs had him and Kilian surrounded while they waited in the middle of Kilian's village for the elders to come.

"What exactly did we do?" Harry whispered to Kilian, wary of the spears pointed his way.

"It's not what you did," Kilian whispered back, glaring at those that surrounded them. "It's what I did. Unless a Centaur tells a human to get out of the forest, all other forms of conversation are not allowed."

"That's completely ridiculous!" Harry hissed. "You're my friend. Surely they can see that, right?"

Kilian gave him a grateful look. "Unfortunately they can't. This isn't my first offense either."

"For talking to humans?" Harry asked.

Kilian shook her head and pawed the ground nervously. "No." She trailed off for a moment before saying, "You'll just end up hearing all my offenses from the elder anyway. No need to say anything right now." Kilian nodded to three old Centaurs heading their way.

Harry looked to where Kilian indicated and watched as the three Centaurs made their way over. There were two males and one female, the males a dark brown color while the female was an almost white color, perhaps from age.

"All bow for the elders!" one of the guards shouted.

All the Centaurs, even those looking out from their homes to see what all the commotion was about, bowed low. Kilian did the same and Harry, to show respect, did so as well.

One of the male elders stepped forward, swishing his golden tail. This one had blond hair and dark brown eyes, as well as a stern look. He looked from Kilian to Harry and stared at Harry a moment longer than ordinary and turned away to join the other elders.

"He was judging us," Kilian whispered.

"For what?"

"To see if we would speak the truth."

"He can tell that?" Harry asked.

"It's what he's known for. His name is Ovid, son of Barely."

Harry nodded.

"Silence all!" the female roared, causing many to jump.

"Damn, she's got a voice!" Tagger said, completely impressed.

Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of course Tagger would be impressed.

The elder stepped forward. "I am Kleitas, human. You would do well to remember it."

Harry narrowed his eyes but only nodded politely.

"My fellow elders are Ovid and Bieser," Kleitas continued. "We are here to judge you both on your crimes and on your punishment."

"Punishment?" Harry repeated.

"Yes, human, punishment," Kleitas said dismissively.

Harry and Kilian glanced at each other.

Bieser stepped forward this time and held out a scroll. Harry briefly wondered how Centaurs got things like scrolls or writing utensils but decided to think about that later as the elder Centaur began to speak.

"Kilian, daughter of Whitewind, you have been charged with fraternizing with the enemy. How do you plead?"

"Innocent," Kilian said coldly.

Whispers broke out but Bieser cut them off with a wave of his hand. "Have you not been meeting this human here?" he asked, pointing at Harry. "Have you not spoken with and, if young Tak is right; have been practicing the use of weapons?"

"This human is no enemy," Kilian said boldly. Harry felt his heart lift as his friend defended him. "This human has a name, just as we Centaurs do."

"Then what is the humans name?" a black Centaur sneered.

"My name is Harry Potter," Harry said coldly. He turned back to he elders. "Sir's and Madam, I was unaware that it was illegal for a Centaur to talk with a human and, to be honest, I find it both ridiculous and unneeded."

Roars of disapproval rang out through the herd.

"You dare question our ways, human?!"

"He mocks us, coming here and disgracing our laws."

"Punish him!"

"Silence!" Kleitas shouted, once again impressing everyone with her voice. She turned to Harry. "Harry Potter," she mused. "You come here and disrespect our laws. Do you really think such words are wise?"

Harry stayed quiet for a moment before saying, "I was not purposely disrespecting your laws, elder. I was merely stating my opinion. I am not Kilian's enemy and I am definitely not yours. She is my friend, and if such a law is made, how can Centaurs and humans live in peace?"

"That is quite simple," Ovid said, his tone dismissive. "You stay in your castle, and we shall stay in our forest."

"Why?" Harry questioned. Seeing some of the Centaurs get angry, he quickly said, "Why must we live so separately?"

"That is just the way things have been, young human," Kleitas said. "Your kind once enslaved us, using us as mules and forcing us to carry twice our load. It wasn't until a great war started that we finally gained our freedom and treaties were made. That was when Centaurs were isolated from humans, and that is how it should be."

Harry pondered this for a moment. "But what about today?"

"What about today?" Ovid asked, his tone going from dismissive to impatient. He clearly wanted this whole ordeal over with.

"Why not make new treaties? Why not both races just make peace?"

The whole herd started laughing, and even Kilian was chuckling.

"What interesting but naive thoughts," Kleitas declared, staring at Harry pityingly. "Your kind is greedy and scornful, human. We would never be able to live in peace. We barely have any laws. What do you expect, for us to someday walk into one of your stores without cold looks or hatred?"

"It's with that kind of attitude that we won't ever have peace!" Harry shouted, glaring at the whole herd. He heard Kilian gasp and knew he must have made a mistake.

All three elders reared back in anger.

"Do not test us, child," Bieser, hissed. "You have no right to speak to us in such a disrespectful tone." He turned to Kilian. "And as for you, we shall read your crimes and get this over with. We have been here long enough."

Harry scowled at the elder but cooled down a bit as Kilian nudged him roughly, an almost defeated look in her eyes. The look frightened Harry. What on earth could they do to her? It didn't seem like she did anything serious by talking to him. Harry turned to the elder. But what were her others offenses?

Bieser cleared his throat. "Your offenses, Kilian, stand as the following: Stealing medical supplies from the healing sentry, participating in the Liber O vel Manus et Sagittae ritual, practicing the use of weaponry illegally without a tutor and knowing females are not allowed."

Bieser paused to stare down at the angry Kilian before continuing. "Other offenses are talking to a human when knowing we are not to come into contact with them when they are here for school, speaking of our laws, way and traditions with one not of our herd and for the murder of your younger brother, Chalker."

There was some murmuring and startled gasps as the whole herd broke out in whispers. Harry stared up at his friend in shock. "Kilian?" he asked hesitantly.

"I did no such thing!" Kilian roared. "I was judged innocent when this came up."

"You were judged innocent, yes," Kleitas said carefully. "But you forget, young one, that at the time matters were in chaos and we could not gather evidence."

Kilian paled. "You found evidence against me? How?"

"Your brother was in the stream," Bieser said coldly. "You remember, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Kilian said angrily.

"Then I suppose you remember the purple marks that covered his body."

"Yes…"

"The cause was from Aconite."

Harry remembered that was a poison he learned in potions but couldn't make heads or tails of why this all pointed to Kilian.

"No!" a dark brown Centaur with white on one leg cried. "That couldn't be…"

"Father," Kilian cried pleadingly. "I didn't do it!"

"_That's Kilian's father?" _Harry thought as he watched the heart broken Centaur being led by a gray Centaur, presumably Kilian's mother. _"They're abandoning her," _Harry thought with horror.

"What does Aconite have to do with Kilian?" Harry asked defensively.

"All Centaur families' use their own type of poison on there weapons," Kilian said, her eyes down. "My family is the only one that uses Aconite."

"But that doesn't prove it was you!"

"I was on fawn duty for my family," Kilian muttered dully.

There was a tense silence.

"How many did you have to watch?" Harry asked tensely.

"Just him," Kilian whispered. Harry noticed tears were starting to leak out of her eyes. "Just my baby brother."

"Kilian…" Harry didn't know what to do. There was no way Chalker could have been killed without Kilian not knowing. But she would have told someone, right? Harry stared at his friend, trying to make sense of it all.

"Kilian, were you there when he was murdered?" Harry asked.

Kilian rounded on, fury in his eyes. "You dare ask me that!?"

"I do!" Harry said, standing against her. He turned to the elders. "What if she tells us what she saw? Maybe we can find out what happened."

"Child," Kleitas said tiredly, "we have investigated this matter thoroughly and have only presented these charges because we could not go against her without her breaking another law. Since she was already charged with that, we could not charge her again without another conviction."

"But what about her statement?"

"Harry, stop it," Kilian snarled.

Harry glared. "At least I'm trying to help you! You're not even defending yourself."

Kilian reared up angrily. "We may be friends, Harry, but this is not something you need to worry about."

"She is right," Ovid said. "This affair does not involve you, human."

"I'm involved right now, aren't I?" Harry snarled. "Kilian, why can't you just tell everyone what happened?"

"Be quiet, Harry."

"Kilian…"

"No!"

"But Kilian," Harry started, his voice cracking a little. "What if they sentence you to death?"

"That is her sentence," Ovid said somewhat smugly.

"Kilian!"

"Then I'm sentenced to death," Kilian sneered. "Figures."

Harry, no longer able to stand it any longer, punched Kilian in the face. There was a shocked silence. Harry panted harshly, not from being tired, but from anger. "How can you be so calm?" Harry demanded. "I believe you when you said you didn't kill your brother, but why can't you just tell everyone what happened?"

Kilian held her red cheek. "It's not their business," she said quietly.

"Kilian," Harry said after a minute of silence. "Did someone threaten you?"

The mutters came back again.

"No." Kilian met Harry's eyes and, for only a moment, he saw a brief flash of something.

"You weren't there, were you?" he asked so quietly that only Kilian could hear.

More tears fell to the ground as Kilian sobbed for the loss of her brother. She shook her head, but Harry couldn't tell if she was or wasn't there. "I saw him when he was dying, but I did nothing."

"Of course you saw," Ovid said angrily. "You did it."

"Quiet," Bieser said. "Even if she didn't do it, the Liber O vel Manus et Sagittae ritual is still punishable by death."

"What is the ritual?" Harry asked.

"It goes against all of nature," Kleitas said seriously. "It is used to summon the dead for exactly one hour.

"Necromancy?" Harry asked, more to himself than the others. That was dark magic and wizards who did rituals like that were punished as well.

"I needed to know why," Kilian said to Harry.

"Why what?" Harry asked urgently. "Kilian, who killed your brother?"

A cold breeze ran through the herd as Kilian said in a dark voice, "Chalker did. He killed himself."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry had never been so tired in his life, and not because he didn't sleep anymore. He was drained both mentally and physically. Harry and Kilian had been separated and Harry didn't dare think of how Kilian was holding up. This whole ordeal was completely against her.

It just wasn't fair.

"Life isn't fair," Tagger said. "You already know this, so don't dwell on it. What you should be thinking abut is what you are going to do about Kilian, instead of moping around."

Harry inwardly flinched but knew he was being properly chastised. "They're sentencing her to death," he whispered hoarsely. "What can I do?"

Tagger pondered the question for a moment. "When the time comes," he said slowly, "perhaps you can make a bargain."

"A bargain?" Harry repeated. He closed his eyes in thought. What kind of bargain? What could he give the Centaurs in exchange for Kilian's life?

"Human," a Centaur said coldly. "I've been sent to summon you. "It has been decided."

Harry nodded slowly. He stood up, squared his shoulders and followed his guard. He stepped next to Kilian, noticing her expression was full of sorrow and bravery. Her eyes also gleamed with anger. Harry couldn't blame her.

"We shall begin," Keitas said loudly. She surveyed the herd before turning to Kilian. "Kilian, daughter of Whitewind, your charges have discussed amongst the council and we have found you guilty of all charges."

The herd stamped their hooves softly. It was such a dark and mournful sound that Harry almost couldn't bear it.

"Cause of death shall be by—"

"No!" Harry interrupted. "Please! Isn't there anything else?"

"Be quiet, Harry," Kilian hissed. "I am no coward. I do not fear death."

"Enough of this!" Bieser shouted. "I have had enough interruptions, _human. _If it is your own safety you care about, you need not worry. You will be taken to the castle."

"I don't care about my safety," Harry said angrily. "I care about Kilian. She's my friend, I would die for her."

There was silence in the herd.

"Bold words, human," Kleitas said softly. "You have already told us this fawn is your friend, something very much unheard of, and now you say you would die for her. Will you take her place?"

Harry blinked at the question. He looked at Kilian and noticed her hopeful look. "Yes."

"I said bargain, not give up your life!" Tagger said pitifully.

This time the herd was quiet much longer than the last time. That is until there was a roar of laughter.

"A human taking his life for a Centaur?"

"This is unbelievable."

"Lies, all of it."

"Maybe next he'll offer to retrieve the Caelestis Arrow."

A few Centaurs chuckled at that but Harry didn't know what was so funny.

"Quiet!" Ovid roared, stamping the ground. He grinned coldly at Harry. "That's an excellent idea," he said, addressing the Centaur who said something about a weird arrow.

"Ovid," Kleitas hissed. "He is only a child, and we swore an oath to the Headmaster."

"Not so," Ovid said importantly. "This one here is nearing manhood. He has offered us his life, and I say we use it." He stood in front of Harry, showing just how small Harry was compared to all of them. "Human, you heard one of us say the Caelestis Arrow, correct."

"Yes," Harry said, looking in the elders eyes.

"Good." Ovid threw a powdery substance into a nearby fire pit, turning it blue and forcing it to grow over six feet. Ovid waved his hand and picture formed in the fire. "Do you see this?"

Harry nodded. "Yes." He stared at the golden arrow that floated in the magical fire. "You want me to get it?" he guessed.

"What else?" Bieser said with a sneer. The Caelestis Arrow, also known as Heavenly Arrow, is a rare item that was taken from our herd many years ago."

"How do you expect me to find it if it's lost?" Harry asked.

"Because we know where it is."

Harry nearly rolled his eyes. "Then why don't you just retrieve it yourselves?"

Ovid sniffed rudely. "Think, human. It is located north of here, where our stronger enemies are. We are no match for them; otherwise we would have stormed their territory ourselves."

"Then what makes you think I can do it?" Harry asked incredulously.

"You may also run away," Bieser said.

Harry sneered. And abandon Kilian? No way. "I will not run away. I'll find you that arrow, but I expect Kilian to be let go."

Kleitas regarded Harry. "We agree with your terms."

By her tone, Harry could tell she didn't think he would succeed. Well, Harry thought with a huff, he would show them. "I promise I'll find that arrow, Kilian," he said to his friend.

Kilian gathered him into a hug. "You're such a fool," she said with no malice. "But I'm glad you're my friend. You don't need to do this."

Harry shook his head. "No, because I know you would do the same."

Kilian swished her tail. "Oh, you think so, huh?" she said playfully. "I wasn't aware I thought so much of you."

Harry snorted. "Yea, yea." He grinned at the female Centaur before turning to the elders.

Bieser snorted before gesturing for another Centaur to come forward. This one was a deep chestnut color, and was a young male. He handed Harry a strange compass.

"A compass?" Harry asked.

"It that is what you wish to call it. The arrow will point to the arrow." Bieser actually paused as he considered the words he just used.

"I get it," Harry said, staring at the black compass with many ruins carved with bits of gold. Harry fiddled with the compass and realized he would need to turn to the left and head deep into the forest.

"You have two day," Ovid warned. "If you are not back by then, Kilian shall not be spared."

Harry felt hatred rise in his chest. They had no right to do this to his friend. "Understood," he said coldly. He gave Kilian one last glance before rushing deeper into the forest and away from the herd, aware of all the eyes following him.

"Don't worry," Tagger said comfortingly. "With your luck, we should find the arrow in no time! You have the best luck, after all."

Harry smiled at the comforting words. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I hate my luck!" Harry shouted angrily as he dodged several swinging branches. Apparently, Harry had taken the trail that led straight through a bunch of Whomping Willows. Branches swung left and right, forcing Harry to keep moving. He had actually always wondered where the school had gotten their Whomping Willow to block the entrance to the Shrieking Shack.

Tagger floated lazily, not even caring as branches and leaves went right through him. "Might want to get out here fast, Harry."

"No, I would have never thought that," Harry snarled sarcastically as he rubbed a bloody cheek. Two more minutes of jumping, rolling and running, Harry managed to get away from the vicious trees.

He sighed in relief as he leaned against a tree, this one safe. Tagger glanced at the sun starting to rise. "It's getting late," he commented.

"More like early," Harry grunted back. Harry checked his watch. "It's six. Let's see, I've been walking for four hours and a half since I started at 1:30."

"Chaos city when the professors find out."

"Chaos city," Harry agreed. Harry pulled out a few leaves from his clothes and chucked them to the ground. "At least I still have the compass," Harry said in relief, checking his pockets and pulling it out.

"So what are you going to tell them?" Harry asked.

Harry closed his eyes in annoyance. "Can we not talk about this right now? I would rather focus on finding that stupid arrow so that stupid herd will let Kilian go."

"Fine, no need to be touchy."

Harry glanced at Tagger for a moment before pocketing the compass and transforming into his animagus form. Harry stretched his claws before climbing up the tree he had been leaning on.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Tagger asked. "What if there's something living up there?"

"That is why I am taking precautions," Harry replied, climbing up from branch to branch. "I have my wand under my sleeve and I can smell if anything is near."

"Didn't help with those trees," Tagger muttered.

Harry chose to ignore the comment as he balanced on the last branch. "Wow," he whispered.

"That's some view," Tagger said, just as in awe as Harry. The trees stretched on for miles, the tip of the sun lighting the trees as they rustled with the wind. A few birds circled above the forest, landing next to a small river.

"Water!" Harry said, grinning. He checked the compass real quick. "I can get some water and then head a little to the east," Harry told Tagger. "That should put me on the right track."

Tagger tilted his head at the trees before them. "Ah, I get why you climbed up here. You'll just jump from branch to branch."

"One in one," Harry said. He opened his wings and jumped, gliding down to the next tree. He landed softly and glanced around, making sure he didn't disturb anything.

"This would be so much easier if you could fly," Tagger said in a bored tone.

"Shut it," Harry said. "You can't fly either."

"Can too!"

"You can hover, like the raccoons, but you can't fly."

Tagger opened his mouth and closed it several times. Tagger stuck out his tongue childishly but otherwise said nothing.

Harry repeated the act of jumping from branch to branch, his wings spread wide to help glide if necessary, and soon made it to the stream in just a matter of minutes. "Wasn't so hard," Harry said proudly. Transforming back to human, Harry pulled out his wand.

It was a bit annoying he couldn't use magic in his animagus form but didn't think now was the best time to think about. Harry pointed his wand at a random rock and said, "_Potior." _A cream colored green light hit the rock and it transformed into a green canteen.

Harry picked up the canteen and filled it with water from the stream (after checking to make sure nothing was in it first.)

"Ready yet?" Tagger asked.

Harry ignored the question and drank some more water before filling the canteen once more and strapping it around his arm. "I am now," he said. Tagger nodded.

Harry climbed up another tree and began to jump from branch to branch once more, hoping he would find the arrow in time.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ron yawned widely as he got up and stretched. He greeted his fellow roommate as they all got up. Groans and moans came from the boys as they unsteadily made their way into the bathroom to take a morning shower or get dressed.

Ron never took showers in the morning. He took enough time as it was just getting dressed and making it to breakfast on time. Or at least that's what Hermione told him.

Ron glanced at Harry's bed. The curtains were closed. _Must still be asleep, _Ron thought. He shifted uncomfortably. He might be angry at Harry, but it wouldn't be nice if he allowed Harry to sleep in and miss class.

Squaring his shoulders, Ron opened the curtains slowly, as if not to startle Harry. "Hey, Harry," Ron began. "Time to get…" Ron trailed off as he noticed the empty bed. Ron's brow furrowed. Where the heck did he go?

Ron glanced at Neville. "Hey, Neville," Ron called. "Did you see Harry leave?"

"Is he gone?" Neville asked, balancing a few shirts in one hand and Trevor in the other.

Ron stared at Trevor, not for the first time wondering why Neville just didn't get rid of the toad and get a proper pet. Not that Ron could really compare to others with proper pets. He had a pit sized owl and used to have a rat that was in fact a traitor and Death Eater. Ron inwardly winced at that before turning his attention to the slightly plump boy.

"Yea. Harry usually leaved early, but at least we see him in the morning."

Neville stared at the empty bed for a few minutes. "I don't know," he finally said, putting on his robes. "He seemed pretty angry lately, maybe he just wanted to leave early and get some fresh air or something."

"Or something," Ron mumbled. He fought the urge to mentally wince again. Ok, so he had told Harry a few unacceptable things, but he deserved it! Harry had spent far too much time away from his friends and…

_Wait, away from his friends? _Ron groaned at his thoughts. He really was acting like a selfish child. _I suppose I should apologize…_

Ron sighed and got dressed quickly, hoping to catch Harry and Hermione before they got to the Great Hall before him.

_Hope they have blueberry muffins this morning, _Ron thought gleefully while rubbing his growling stomach.

"Hey, Hermione," Ron called cheerfully as he walked down the steps and into the Gryffindor Common Room.

Hermione looked up and smiled. "Hello Ron, is Harry coming down later?"

Ron frowned. "He's not upstairs," he said slowly. "I thought he'd be down here already."

Hermione frowned as well. "That's odd. Do you suppose he's already eating breakfast?"

Ron shrugged half heartedly. Curiosity made him want to know where Harry was, but common sense told him they were still angry at each other and it would be a bit tense.

"Ron?"

"Huh?"

Hermione smiled exasperatedly. "You were out of it for a moment."

"Oh, sorry, I was thinking."

"Were you?" was Hermione's teasing voice.

"Yes, Hermione," Ron said with a little huff. "I can think, you know."

"Then perhaps you'll use that brain of yours to do your own homework."

"Ha! As if." Ron grinned at her and walked out of the portrait.

"So," Hermione started, "how are you doing?"

Ron glanced at Hermione. "Fine…" he said slowly. "Why?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ron, I'm not blind, I know you and Harry are fighting again."

"Don't know what you're talking about," Ron mumbled.

"Ron."

"Neh."

"Ron."

Ron sighed at the stern tone. "Ok, Hermione. Yes, me and Harry had a fight."

"Harry and I," Hermione corrected.

"You and Harry had a fight too?" Ron asked, confused.

Hermione sighed. "No, Ron, just forget it. Anyway, maybe a few unneeded things were said that shouldn't have been said."

"You know everything already, don't you?"

"Maybe."

Ron grumbled under his breath. "I suppose I said a few things that I shouldn't have, but I was so angry."

"Ron," Hermione said patiently, "everyone gets angry. It's understandable and I'm sure Harry will understand."

"You think so?" Ron asked hopefully.

"He forgave during the tournament last year, remember?"

"Yea… I've been a jerk for the past few years, haven't I?"

"You have your moments," Hermione said truthfully. "But you always come out better in the end."

"Hmm. Let's hurry down to breakfast."

"So you can apologize to Harry?"

"Yea, that too, but I'm hungry."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You never change."

Ron and Hermione eyed the Gryffindor table up and down, looking for their black haired friend but couldn't find him.

"Do you think he's running a little late?" Hermione asked worriedly.

Ron shrugged and sat down. "I don't know. He could be eating in the kitchens. He has done it before, and we'll still see him in class."

"I suppose so."

"What's that?" Ron asked suddenly.

"What?"

"That thing in your book bag."

"My book, perhaps?" Hermione asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Not that," Ron said, ignoring the sarcasm. "That bit of paper there. What kind of picture is that?"

Hermione pulled the slip of paper out with a small blush. "Its, well…"

"Is that a flower holding a knife?" Ron asked incredulously, setting down his fork as he began to laugh. "Hermione, where did you get this?"

"Harry drew it," Hermione said defensively.

"What was Harry sniffing when he drew that?" Ron grabbed the picture and eyed. "Didn't know he could draw so well," he commented.

"I asked him to draw it," Hermione said. "I didn't know either, and apparently Harry didn't either. He just started practicing this year."

"But what's with the flower and the knife?" Ron eyed the bit of black blood dropping to the ground. "Kind of spooky, if you ask me."

"His drawings are, well, a bit different." Ron raised an eyebrow and Hermione continued. "When he draws with his right hand, he draws beautiful breathtaking pictures. With his left, however, it's like a nightmare or something from a horror movie."

"Horror movie?" Ron asked.

"Something scary or, in Harry's case, full of gore."

"Gory?"

"It is when—"

"I know what it means," Ron said irritably. He handed the picture back to Hermione. "Strange," he muttered before continuing his breakfast.

Breakfast was soon coming to an end and Hermione and Ron were getting worried. Harry hadn't showed up at all, nor did anybody else know where he was. Ron and Hermione weren't the only ones who noticed. Quite a few kids from the others houses noticed, as well as the staff.

"Do you think he's sick?" Hermione asked.

Ron shook his head. "I would have heard him leave if he went to the Hospital Wing."

"Ron, you can sleep through a stampede."

"That's a bit exaggerating, isn't it?"

"Fred and George set off twenty of their fireworks while you slept at Headquarters this summer," Hermione whispered.

Ron blinked. "They did?"

"Yes, Ron," Hermione said, "they did."

"Oh."

They silently made their way to the dungeons, hoping to see Harry already there. They were disappointed when they didn't see hide or hair of their friend.

"Weasely," Snape sneered. "Where is Potter?"

Ron shifted uncomfortably as everybody's gaze was upon him. "I don't know."

Professor Snape lifted a smooth eyebrow. "You don't know?" he repeated dangerously.

Ron shook his head.

Professor Snape turned to Hermione. "And you, Granger?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I haven't seen Harry once this morning."

Snape's lip curled angrily.

"Do you think he ditched?" Ron wondered aloud, widening his eyes as he just realized he said it right in front of Snape.

Snape turned to him with a snarl. "You better hope that's all Potter did, Weasely." He stormed to the front of the classroom. "I will not waste my time on brats who won't even come to class. Page 207, now!"

Everyone jumped at the command and opened their books hurriedly. Ron glanced at Hermione, hoping Harry would show up soon.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Hermione, I'm a bit worried."

"You're worried now?" Hermione said. "Harry hasn't shown up for Potions, Herbology and now Transfiguration."

Ron scratched his head in thought as he packed his books away. "Do you think he could be sick?"

Hermione shook her head. "I just don't know, Ron."

"Mr. Weasely, Ms. Granger, a word, if you please," Professor McGonagall called, stopping them in their tracks.

They both gulped, knowing full well what their teacher wanted.

"Yes, Professor?" Hermione asked politely.

Their teacher eyed them critically. "I will not skate through the issue and will be quite bold. Now, where is Mister Potter?"

Ron grimaced. "We don't know." Oh gosh, couldn't he come up with something other than that?

To their shock, McGonagall actually sighed and closed her eyes tiredly. "I was afraid you would say that. No one else knows where Potter is as well. Mr. Weasely, Ms. Granger, when was the last time you saw Mr. Potter?"

"I saw him last night," Hermione said. "Bid both him and Ron goodnight."

They both turned to Ron. "I saw him go to bed," Ron said defensively, thinking they thought he knew something when he really didn't.

"We are not blaming you, Weasely," McGonagall said calmly. "We are trying to figure out where your friend has gone."

Hermione was silent for a moment before gasping, her eyes. "Professor," she whispered fearfully, "could he have been kidnapped?"

"The Headmaster would have known if any illegal portkeys had been used within Hogwarts and the portraits as well as statues would have informed him of a struggle." Although Professor McGonagall told them this calmly, she had gone white, thinking this a possibility.

"Perhaps it is best if you do not tell anyone we cannot find Potter and go about your day normally."

"But—!"

"No 'buts,' Mr. Weasely. I will speak with the Headmaster, be sure of that."

"Will you tell us if you find anything?" Hermione asked hopefully.

Professor McGonagall's expression softened just a little. "I will, and I expect you two to come to a teacher if you find him."

"What if Harry's just resting somewhere and didn't want to be disturbed?" Ron asked. "There are probably hundreds of rooms that have been undiscovered and Harry found one. Is that such a big deal?"

"A missing student is no small matter," McGonagall said sternly. "You two are dismissed."

Ron and Hermione stared at each other as they exited the classroom, worried for their friend.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I know I said this before," Harry said lowly, "but I really hate my luck." He leveled his wand with the huge, ape-like creature before him. What were these again? Harry rolled out of the way as its troll like arm slammed down exactly where he had been only moments before.

"_Incendio," _Harry shouted, firing the curse at the large ape that had an extremely bushy tail. The curse didn't seem to affect the beast at all. In fact, it just made it even angrier.

Harry backed up, putting space between him and the monster. What was it? That tail looked so familiar. Harry could have sworn he had just read it. The tail… it had something to do with the tail.

"I remember!" Harry said happily, jumping out of the way as the ape thing started throwing rocks at him. It was a Myakka Ape, otherwise known as skunk apes. Basically, they were apes that could use the power of stink like skunks.

Apparently the Myakka ape knew this as well and let off some of its stink. Harry wrinkled his nose, his eyes already starting to water. Quickly doing the bubble head charm, Harry was able to breathe properly and fight the ape with an advantage.

The ape snarled at him, showing a few sharp canines but otherwise flat teeth. Harry narrowed his eyes. If he could get a clear shot of its tail, the ape would run away. Myakka apes prided their tails above all else.

Harry pointed his wand at the fallen leaves on the ground. _"Creatura folium." _The leaves swirled around each other, catching the Myakka's attention. When the leaves had stopped swirling around, they had created a small beast.

Harry smirked at his creation. Creatura folium allowed him to change the leaves into the form of any creature he envisioned. What Harry had was a small dog with large fangs for twigs, a spiky back, and mean looking claws; simple but efficient. His creation would be able to distract the ape, giving Harry the chance to fry its tail.

The Myakka eyed the snarling leaves warily but didn't want to turn its attention away from Harry. When the Myakka finally turned back to Harry, its back exposed, the leaf monster slashed at the apes back, causing it snarl in rage and swing a punch.

Harry watched the overlarge ape take wild swings, missing each time. _Jut like Dudley, _Harry thought with a grin. With the ape's attention elsewhere, Harry silently made his way closer, took carefully aim, and shouted, _"Incendio!" _

The ape's scream echoed throughout the forest as it ran back and forth, trying desperately to put out its tail. Harry felt a twinge of guilt of didn't do anything as the ape ran away from Harry, leaving a trail of burnt hairs.

Harry eyed the hairs and picked up a few non-burnt ones before putting them into a small pouch he had conjured when he started finding many objects. He hadn't found much. Just a few crystals, a blood red quartz, a few hairs and scales from various creatures and a shiny pebble that just looked really cool.

Harry pocketed the small pouch carefully and resumed walking, after checking with the compass that is. Harry furrowed his brow in thought as he walked quietly through the forest, hoping he didn't disturb anymore animal. He only had two days to get the arrow, and the first day was nearing its end.

Harry glanced up at the pink sky, a warning that darkness would be here soon. A quick glance at his watch told him it was already 6:30. Despite being worried about his friend and the limited time he had, Harry couldn't help but feel proud of himself. He had survive the Forbidden Forest thus far, something that couldn't be said about most students his age.

That pride soon melted into hunger as his stomach gave a particular large growl. The only thing Harry had eaten that day was berries. Despite the berries being the size of his head, they weren't enough for the entire day, especially since he hadn't stopped once.

"Perhaps you should rest," Tagger offered. "No use in telling you to sleep, since you can't, catching dinner should suffice for now."

Harry dipped his head in acknowledgment, still too much in thought to answer vocally. Harry transformed once again, sniffing the air for some type of scent. A feral grin appeared on his face as a large hare jumped around in some bushes.

Dinner was served.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Are you sure no one has seen him?" the Headmaster questioned, looking at his head of houses.

One by one they shook their head.

"Children have been known to ditch classes, Albus," Professor Flitwick said thoughtfully.

"And I seem to recall a certain Potter always disobeying the rules," Snape said, his arms folded with a glare on his face. "The boy is exactly like his father."

Professor McGonagall eyed him shrewdly. "You know that isn't true, Severus. James was a prankster. Not once has Harry ever pulled a prank."

Professor Snape sneered. "None that we know of, at least."

"What we need to focus on," Dumbledore said patiently, "is Harry's absence, not if he's pulled a prank under our noses."

"Couldn't Fawkes just find the boy?" Professor Sprout asked, looking around for the phoenix.

Dumbledore shook his head lightly. "I'm afraid Fawkes had a burning day not too long ago, and is resting in my private chambers."

"Location spells then," Snape snapped.

"The wards around Hogwarts prevent location spells from working efficiently. It can, however, give a general idea of where said person is. The ward that does this was to protect a student from being captured by the enemy if Hogwarts was ever infiltrated."

"Then a point me spell should work," Snape said impatiently.

"There are many rooms in Hogwarts, Severus," Dumbledore said, looking at Snape over his half moon glasses. "But," he said softly, pulling out his wand, "if that should satisfy you, I will be willing to try it."

"And if it doesn't work?" McGonagall asked.

"Then we will need to act in much more serious magic."

"And what of that Umbridge woman?" Sprout asked, wrinkling her nose in distaste as she thought of the toad like woman.

The other professors all had similar reactions.

"Professor Umbridge has limited control in Hogwarts," Dumbledore said, looking at them all. "Madame Bones has ruled over many of Minister Fudge's requests, which is quite fortunate for us all. Now for the spell." Dumbledore placed his wand on the palm of his hand and said, "_Point me _Harry Potter."

The wand spun smoothly on Dumbledore's flat palm, coming to a slow stop as it pointed out the window. Confused, the five adults headed to the window and looked outside.

"Not like his father?" Snape asked triumphantly. "Going into the Forbidden Forest is something his father would have done."

McGonagall's face was stern and held a hint of anger in her slightly flush cheeks. "What on earth could he be doing in there? He knows it's forbidden."

"When has that ever stopped him?" Snape asked with cold look.

"Enough bickering," Dumbledore chastised. "Call the other teachers and start searching the forest. It is already past curfew but still warn the Prefects to be on higher watch than usual."

The four teachers nodded and left quickly, leaving Dumbledore alone with his thoughts.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry's moth was starting to salivate. He swallowed, trying to hush his stomach's constant growls. "Almost done," Harry said cheerfully. He had a plump rabbit levitated over the fire. A few quick spells had skinned and cleaned the rabbit, thus allowing Harry to start cooking right away.

Using his wand to tilt one side of the rabbit farther into the fire, Harry knew it was time to add the final ingredient: Spices. _"Condimentum." _The rabbit made a sizzling sound as the spices settled, making the air around him smell good.

"Uh, Harry?" Tagger asked hesitantly.

"Yea?" Harry asked, taking a large bit out of his dinner.

"Are you sure that was such a good idea?"

Harry swallowed. "What do you mean?"

"Don't you think the spell might attract some unwanted attention?" No sooner did Tagger finish, a low growling sound came from some nearby bushes.

Harry eyed the bush warily. Deciding he didn't want to deal with anymore monsters, Harry ripped off a large chunk of rabbit with his teeth and threw it as hard as he could into the bush. A soft whine gave Harry a feeling of satisfaction that he had caused whatever it was that interrupted his dinner some pain.

Dousing the fire with a quick water spell, Harry moved away from the growling bush, checking the compass where he should go next.

"Hey, look!" Tagger said excitedly. "It's glowing!"

Harry eyed the compass shrewdly. The runes glowed gold and the compass seemed to vibrate as well. "Do you think it means we're close?" Harry asked.

"I hope so."

"Me too." Harry followed the arrows direction, moving fast but at a slow enough pace to make sure he didn't step or run into anything.

_In the Moonlight I felt your heart_

Harry's head jerked at the sudden sound. He looked around, looking for the voice.

_Quiver like a bowstring's pulse_

"Where is that coming from?" Tagger asked, looking around as well.

_In the moons pure light, you looked at me_

Where was it coming from indeed? It was so beautiful…

_Nobody knows your heart_

Harry followed the voice thoughtlessly.

_When the sun is gone I see you_

_Beautiful and haunting, but cold_

_Like the blade of a knife, so sharp and so sweet_

"Harry?" Tagger called. "Harry, what are you doing!?"

Harry ignored Tagger, his eyes drooping as he walked on steady legs. It seemed odd that he felt so steady when he was so steady. He finally came upon a small clearing with a smooth rock. He could make out a figure sitting on the rock.

Sitting? No, more like curled up.

Harry eyed the creature before him with intense curiosity. It was a woman, a _beautiful _woman. She had dark blue hair that glowed in the moonlight. Light teal eyes stared at him unblinkingly. A smile was upon her face as she hummed her song, apparently already expecting Harry.

"Nobody knows your heart," she sang nearing Harry.

Harry blinked finally realizing what was so different about her. Her entire lower body was nothing but scales. It was just a long tail.

"She's part snake," Tagger whispered. "Harry why did you come here? We need to go!"

Harry once again ignored Tagger, no longer deeming the dragon necessary. For some reason he felt content here. He wanted to stay here, to stay here with this snake woman.

"And you're so beautiful," Harry whispered.

The creature before him gave a light laugh and made her way toward him and wrapped around him, her hand over his chest as he leaned against her. "Such kind words," she said softly, rubbing her face against Harry's neck.

Harry closed his eyes, completely content. A small shiver ran down his back as he allowed her to lead him over to the rock.

"And such a handsome young man," she added, fingering his ear playfully.

Harry leaned into the touch, wanting more from this strange woman. He eyed her every move, almost as if in a trance, with a small smile on his face.

"Hello, Harry!?" Tagger yelled, waving his arms in the air frantically. "Snap out of it already!"

Harry blinked hard, finally noticing Tagger. He turned back to the snake woman playing with his hair and neck. "What… what are you doing?" He frowned, noticing how weak his voice suddenly sounded.

She smiled softly. "Naza."

"Naza?" Harry repeated.

"That's my name."

"Oh," Harry said, trying to leave Naza's arms. "I'm sorry, but I need to go…"

_All of your sorrow, grief and pain _

Harry's eyes drooped and he relaxed in the embrace.

"Harry, snap out of it," Tagger growled at him. He was about to say more, but it came to a complete shock as he was forced back into Harry's mind, something only he could do.

_Locked away in the forest of the night_

Naza moved around Harry carefully, massaging his tense muscles until they were relaxed. She toyed with his lips, eyeing his body and eyes. She had picked well tonight! Such beautiful eyes on a human as well; a rare delight.

"Your secret heart belongs to the world," she sang aloud, instead of using her mind this time, touching his chest and rubbing it softly.

Naza watched the humans eyes close half way, a light growl coming from his throat. Now that was interesting. Grinning devilishly, Naza brought her lips upon the humans' lips. "Your name?" she asked, lips brushing against lips.

"Harry."

Harry groaned as he felt his body course with a strange feeling. It took a moment for him to realize what it was.

Naza finally pressed her lips on top of Harry's, her tongue demanding entry. It surprised her greatly when Harry entered his own into the fray, both soon battling for dominance.

She hadn't had such entertainment in years! Naza curled completely around Harry, pushing him to the ground on top of the strangely comfortable rock. If she had been surprised when Harry had fought back with their kiss, it came to a greater shock as Harry pushed her to the ground as well, his tongue feeling strange in her mouth as it seemed to have changed.

Naza gripped Harry's hair tightly and pulled him back, noticing snake eyes staring at her. What was this? This boy was a human, she could smell his scent. His eyes glowed softly, showing Naza that he was under her spell, and also showing the lust that plagued his body. She grinned, her senses telling her Harry was a virgin.

A flicker of doubt suddenly made his way into Harry's eyes as he stared into Naza's eyes. "I shouldn't do this?" he questioned, almost causing Naza to laugh.

"Of the things that sigh in the dark," she sang, putting him once more under her spell. Naza rubbed Harry's cheek. "No need to worry, Harry, everything is alright," she said, bringing him forward once more.

She would play with Harry for a while before taking him completely. Perhaps she should keep him for a while. No other being had ever broken her spell before. Most were under her spell after only two or three sentences from her song. And here she was, on the last one!

Naza slammed Harry's face into hers; satisfied she took him by surprise this time. Of course that surprise once again turned on her when his hands turned to claws and he held her tight, kissing her deeply and passionately.

It took a full three minutes before she could pull back, a pleased expression upon her face. Harry's expression was both pleased and confused.

"I need to go," he said slowly. Naza was prepared to finish off her spell before he said, "But I want to be here." An entirely new look had flashed across his face, something far too Slytherin on the Gryffindor's face.

Harry smirked and, slowly, a long, forked-tongue made his way out of his moth and flicked out at her teasingly. The spell was still in control of his emotions, Naza realized, but she hadn't picked a submissive creature. No, she had picked a dominate one. A creature, a creature she didn't even know.

What was he? Human? Demon? Harry had transformed completely and gripped her tightly. Naza choked, trying to undo the spell. At this point, Harry would most likely tear here apart, his instincts going haywire and out of his control.

Naza resisted the urge to chastise herself, knowing full well she should have chosen more carefully. Dominates, especially virgins, lost control of their actions when put under spells such as hers. _Damn horny teenagers, _Naza thought angrily.

Harry grinned at Naza, a cruel look on his face. He brought her closer, biting her neck hard enough to draw blood. "You're beautiful," he growled lowly, loosening his grip on her neck.

Naza hissed soothingly, trying to bring Harry into a deep sleep. It wasn't working as well as she had hoped. Harry had only lain on the ground, his eyes staring at her intensely. Sharp teeth poked out of his snout, casing Naza to shiver in both delight and fear.

"Go to sleep, Harry," Naza commanded.

"I can't," Harry replied automatically, something in his subconscious telling him he couldn't.

"Well, let's help you then," Naza said sweetly, still not completely out of Harry's grip. "Shall we look at the stars?"

Harry's gaze finally left Naza's, allowing the snake woman to sigh in relief. That look was so intense. Harry growled quite loudly, making several small animals that had been near squeak in fear.

"Doesn't that one look like dog?" Naza said loudly, hoping to get Harry to avert his attention elsewhere. One clawed finger had started drawing small designs on her stomach, drawing blood and causing her to wince.

"No," Harry said neutrally, pressing harder into her skin.

Naza squirmed. Harry's eyes had changed, turning much darker with a longing she didn't quite understand. She gulped as Harry's finger rose slowly to her neck where his other hand was wrapped around. Oh God, would he kill her?

Thoughts becoming a bit frantic, Naza said quickly, "What about that one? Doesn't it look like a bird? And look, the big dipper!"

"I don't care," Harry said coldly, eyes completely out of focus as his mouth moved closer to her neck.

"That… that one!" Naza stuttered. "A bear, and there's a snake. No, doesn't interest you? Um, a triangle, circle arrow!"

Harry blinked, hands loosening. Naza noticed and took that chance. She had caught his interest! "Yea…yes, an arrow! It's really big."

"Big?" Harry questioned, looking up at the stars for the first time. Why did that sound so important?

"Yes, very big. It's pointing north as well."

"What color?"

Naza closed her eyes in frustration, wishing she knew how to undo the spell. She had never gone as far as she had before and had no experience. "Brown?"

Harry frowned and tightened his grip. "No…"

What did this guy want? "My mistake. Blue?" The grip got tighter, nearly choking her. "Blue, green, red orange, yellow?"

The hand lessoned. "No… Gold."

Naza's face was had a look of disbelief. "Ok, gold it is. Ring any bells or something?"

Harry closed his eyes. Why did that bother him so much? Why an arrow of all things? All he wanted was to satisfy his needs and slowly kill the creature that had tried to control him. Nobody controlled him.

Wait… did anybody control him? No, no that couldn't be right. He allowed nobody to control him, he fought against that. Frustrated with his lack of answers, Harry finally punched himself in the face, releasing Naza and hoping to remember something with that little jolt.

Naza leaped away from him, standing a good distance away from him but still watching Harry carefully.

Harry groaned loudly as he remembered everything. He turned slowly to glare at Naza. "Why did you do that?" he growled softly, wings spreading out slowly that made him very intimidating.

Naza held up her hands. "Don't get the wrong idea," she said, backing up slowly. "It's in my nature."

"To rape people?" Harry asked with a deadly whisper.

"Well, I wouldn't say that…"

"Answer the question!" Harry roared, stomping in front of her.

Naza cowered as she felt Harry's magic flare in anger. "I just place a spell on my victim, allowing him, or in some cases, her, feel nothing but pleasure. It's not rape if there's consent."

Harry glared down at Naza. "And what of the victims?"

"I let them go afterwards," Naza said truthfully. "Honestly!"

Harry snapped his teeth together in agitation. "For what purpose?"

"Its… it's just in my nature."

"Maybe you should remember how others will feel when you're done with them," Harry spat before turning away, making sure to pick up the fallen compass. He started walking, intent on leaving Naza forever but her next words made him pause.

"My species is the Lameon, cousins of the Lamia who suck out the blood of their prey. Lamia, a lot like Veela, are cursed with bodily desires. Unfortunately, unlike the Veela, Lemeon's believe themselves to be ugly and will bind their prey to give them pleasure, making them feel wanted. I myself feel ugly, unwanted, and that is why I do what I do."

Harry turned his head around. "A depressing story," he said coldly, looking at Naza with one eye. "But you should learn to not go by what you believe in." Harry walked over to Naza and stood in front of her, no longer with a glare on his face.

Harry eyes softened. "You are beautiful, and don't you ever forget that."

Naza beamed at him and Harry couldn't help but think, _I'm much too nice for my own good._

Naza smiled coyly. "You know, Harry," she purred. "Perhaps we could start over, get to know one another…" She toyed with a lock of Harry's hair.

Harry pulled away gently. "Sorry," he said with a small smile, "but I really need to go." And without thinking, he planted a quick peck on her cheek. "Must still be some after affects," Harry said before turning away, ignoring the smirk on Naza's face.

Ok, so he had wanted one last kiss. He was still a teenager with hormones and had every right.

Naza watched Harry leave the field before singing the last line of her song, this time with a hint of regret in it.

_Oh the things that cry in the dark_

"Oh the things that cry in the dark," Naza repeated out loud, instead of in her mind.

_Oh the things that cry in the dark_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Any sign of him?" Flitwick asked walking up next to Professor McGonagall.

The Transfiguration teacher shook her head. "No, and it doesn't seem like we're any closer. The forest goes on for miles, and not to mention all of the wild animals. You know as well as I do that we can't venture near the heart of the forest. The animals would overrun us in mere minutes."

Flitwick nodded his head in agreement. "Let us just hope Mr. Potter is nearby. But do you know what has me curious, Minerva?"

McGonagall stared down at her tiny colleague. "What is it?"

"I'm curious as to why Mr. Potter came into the forest, especially as deep as we already are. I noticed he had entered the forest a few times during the summer, but didn't say anything."

"I noticed as well," McGonagall said. "Do you suppose he made a friend? Or perhaps Mr. Potter is seeking solitude."

"Solitude from what?" Flitwick asked, looking up curiously.

"From life," McGonagall said, her lips thinned. "Whatever the reason, it better be good and he better have an excuse that will save him. Or better yet, the rock hard truth. Severus has been waiting for something like this to happen so he could expel the boy. That man really needs to get over his hatred of James. James is dead, and Severus needs to accept that."

"You are right, Minerva," Flitwick agreed. "But enough chat. We need to find our missing student."

In the distance, they could hear Sybil Trelawney speaking with an agitated Runes professor, telling him that it was too late to save Harry.

"If Potter's dead, I won't hear the end of it for weeks," McGonagall muttered, sniffing disdainfully at the Divination teacher.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So where do you suppose we are?" Harry asked, looking at what looked like an old stable. Stables upon stables lined up, followed by a strange, huge rock that stood at ten feet and was about twelve feet thick. A hole stood out in the middle, allowing anybody Hagrid's size or small to enter.

"I don't know," Tagger said, having already popped out of Harry's mind once he was free from the spell. "Is that a house?"

Harry noticed a rundown old house on the other side of the stables, looking like it was ready to fall apart at any second. Harry walked over to a nearby stable, peaking in carefully. It was empty, despite a few skeletons from some unknown creature.

"What do you suppose is down that rock?" Tagger asked pointing at the large boulder.

Harry eyed it apprehensively and shivered. It just oozed evil and dark magic. "I'm not sure, but I really don't want to find out. It feels wrong somehow."

"How so?"

"It feels…" Harry trailed off for a moment. "I don't know. It feels sinister, evil, so much more than Voldemort."

"More than Voldemort?" Tagger asked incredulously, looking at the pitch black opening. "Do you think—what's that?"

Harry turned, noticing three snarling monsters make their way over to him. Harry gripped his wand tightly. The creatures were light blue in color, with snapping jaws that showed wickedly sharp teeth. Blue feathers with black tips adjourned their head and stopped at the base of their neck, which was soon followed by spikes leading all the way down to the tail.

Black, tiger like stripes covered their bodies and each big toe was a huge point that stood up in the air.

Harry gapped at the lizard like beasts. They were raptors, dinosaurs that were thought to be extinct over one millions years ago. Apparently the muggles had it all wrong.

The biggest of the three snapped at Harry angrily, stalking closer and closer to him. Harry leveled his wand with the creature and wasted no time, shouting, _"Averte Statura!" _sending it flying backwards.

The raptor was able to gain its balance quite easily and ran at Harry madly, followed by the other two. _"Incendio! Sabbia! Frigus!" _Harry shouted the three spells, sending fire, sand and ice at the angry reptiles.

The spells only seemed to make them angry instead of slow them down, however, and Harry was getting worried. _"Stupefy!" _Harry aimed the spell at the largest one, hoping to get rid of that one quickly. The raptor just moved out of the way with incredible swiftness and slammed Harry hard with its tail, knocking him away quite a few feet.

"That hurt," Harry mumbled, ignoring the gash appearing on his arm as he sat up.

A loud cry alerted Harry as one of the smaller ones jumped in the air, right above Harry, toe-claws at the ready.

Not thinking, just reacting, Harry cried out, _"Reducto!" _A satisfying crunching noise came from the raptor as it landed on its head, a small flow of blood already pooling around it. The other two snarled at the loss of their friend.

Harry glared at the last two. "No way am I going to die," Harry growled at them. "I still need to find that bloody arrow." Leveling his wand, Harry thought of his most recently learned spell. _"Ventus Ater!" _A six foot tornado shot out of Harry's wand, completely made up of black energy, and sucked up the two remaining raptors. The magic tore at their skin, ripping and cutting them apart.

The spell was both deadly and very draining. Unfortunately, Harry could only hold it up for eight seconds, more than enough time to defeat the raptors. When the tornado disappeared, the beasts fell to the ground with a small thump. They whimpered pitifully, twitching slightly at the loss of so much blood. Just when Harry thought it was over, the large one gave a loud cry.

Harry wondered if that was its death cry but his blood ran cold as other cries and soft roars answered back.

"This can't be good," Tagger said, floating by Harry's face.

Harry gulped. "Your intelligent comments never cease to amaze me," Harry said sarcastically, eyeing the fifteen raptors that now surrounded him.

One stepped forward, much larger than all the others, _Must be their leader, _Harry thought, looking into the eyes of the great lizard that was probably as tall as Hagrid.

The leader roared angrily and puffed out is chest in challenge. The feather's on its head rose as well, showing how eager it was to finish Harry off.

Harry rubbed his hurt arm carefully. This would be hard. He was completely surrounded with no way out. Not only was Harry running low on energy, he was hungry. His stomach gave a low growl, telling him it wanted food.

The raptors had apparently heard and made an odd keening sound, almost as if they were laughing. Harry gritted his teeth, angry at the lot of them.

The leader made a cawing sound before making a mad rush at him, smacking Harry in the chest with its tail and sending him flying backwards.

"Not again," Harry said, grimacing. That thing had been fast. _"Reducto!" _

The leader snarled angrily when the spell hit him. It jumped at Harry, trying to crush him with its weight or perhaps tearing him apart with those nasty looking toes.

"_Protego!" _Harry shouted just in time, watching the oversized lizard hit the shield and slide to the ground, looking quite dazed. Harry looked around frantically, hoping to see some type of opening. Unfortunately, it was just like with Voldemort at the graveyard. He was still surrounded.

"_Incendium Vitae!" _Flames shot out of Harry's wand and he urged it to take the shape of a raptor.

The leader looked both confused and enchanted as seemingly one of its own had appeared before him in the form of fire. The leader was no fool, though, and knew very well what fire was and what it could do. Leader stepped back thoughtfully, trying to figure out how he could past this new foe and get the much smaller one.

"_Stupefy!" _

The next attack had caught the leader off guard, for he was far too focused on the flaming raptor, and fell down, eyes closed.

The other raptors snarled amongst themselves, not sure what to make of the situation. Their leader had fallen to this small creature, and now they did not know what to do.

Harry walked over to the fallen creature carefully, wary of the others. "Is it out for good?" Tagger asked.

"I think so," Harry answered, poking it with his foot. Just when Harry had relaxed, the leader opened its eyes with a loud snarl, and clamped its jaws around Harry's chest.

The raptors surrounding them cawed and snarled in support of their leader.

Harry screamed in pain, despite still having hard scales on his chest. Tears fell from Harry's eyes as he was lifted into the air, still in the mouth of the raptor. Harry leveled his wand weakly to the monsters face but was shocked to find it was at the feet of the very being that held him in its jaws.

This was it, he was done for. More pressure was put onto him, making it hard to breath. Even transforming fully couldn't get him out of these jaws. _Like a stupid pit-bull, _Harry thought.

"Harry, you idiot!" Tagger snapped at him. "Don't forget you have electricity on your side."

Harry would have slapped in himself for his stupidity if he had the time. Instead, he put his hands inside the raptors mouth and concentrated as hard as he could. A soft light glowed on Harry's hand, soon followed by a crackling sound. Tow butterfly's made out of electricity landed on the raptor's tongue, electrocuting it as soon as they made contact.

The leader dropped Harry to the ground in a bloody heap as it roared loudly, electricity running through its entire body. It was even worse for the leader since it had been electrocuted from the inside out, effectively knocking it out cold or even dead.

This time, without a doubt, Harry knew he had done it. Clutching his stomach weakly, Harry crawled away from the body, hoping the others didn't decide to attack him. Lady luck must have been with him at that moment because they did nothing. All they did was stare at their fallen leader before slowly leaving one by one.

Harry let out a sigh before letting his head fall to the ground softly. His wand was in arms length and he grabbed it, clutching it somewhat weakly. "Harry," Tagger soothed. "You can't fall asleep. I won't let you be hurt anymore, but you need to at least cast a healing charm on yourself before resting."

Harry knew Tagger was right and, after transforming back to human, pointed his wand at his chest. _"Episkey." _Most of the cuts closed up, only leaving a dull throbbing pain. The holes in his chest and stopped bleeding but had not closed up. It would have to do before he got back to Hogwarts.

Harry closed his eyes, resting for a few moments. "I'll probably be expelled for this," he muttered.

"Shh, Harry," Tagger soothed. "No need to think about that. Do you think you can stand?"

Harry nodded and got up. He was actually quite eager to leave the abandoned stable areas. The large boulder just gave him a bad vibe. It even seemed to glow with evil delight when Harry glanced at it.

"Still got the compass?"

Harry took it out, thankfully undamaged. "Yep. Hmm, seems like I have to move that way," Harry said, pointing over the boulder. He started walking around it but the arrow moved away from where he was walking and to the entrance. Harry could only stare in disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me."

Did he really have to go down there?

Apparently he did, because no matter how many times Harry tried to walk around the boulder, the compass still pointed to the entrance.

"I suppose you have no choice," Tagger said. "Be carefully."

"I will," Harry promised, a small part of him wondering why he was doing this. _For Kilian, _he vowed. He had promised her.

Harry stepped through the dark entrance hesitantly, noticing a long staircase that led deep underground. Squaring his shoulders and steeling himself for another attack, Harry walked down the stone steps, only pausing in his descent when he noticed runes carved all over the walls.

Harry fingered one as he walked; knowing without a doubt that even the Headmaster would have a problem interpreting these. It took twenty full minutes to reach the bottom, but it seemed like a complete waste of time since it was completely pitch black and it didn't seem like anything was in here.

"…o."

Harry looked around wildly when he heard something. "Was that you?" Harry asked Tagger.

Tagger shook his head, signaling that it wasn't him who whispered to them.

Harry felt a shiver run down his back. The entire room just made him want to crawl away and hide under the covers. The magic that weaved around the room was so thick Harry wouldn't be surprised if he could grab I and actually hold it.

"Who?"

This time Harry actually jumped. "Who's there!?" Harry shouted, casting lumos so he could see a bit easier.

There was a dark chuckle. "That would be my question, brat."

Harry held his wand high, prepared for any attack, as he walked backwards.

"Its been a while since fresh meat wandered down here," the voice said with a sinister tone. "I've been hungry for so long."

Harry yelped as he felt something brush against his legs, making him jump back and shine the light around, looking for what had touched him, or even the speaker. "Why don't you show yourself?" Harry asked loudly, happy to know his voice didn't betray how scared he was.

That dark chuckle that could put Voldemort's evilest laugh to shame rang in Harry's ears. "Show myself?" the voice asked, this time amused. "What a… splendid idea.

The room lit up completely. What came next shocked Harry so much he dropped his wand in shock and actually fell over in fright. He was shaking from head to toe, and he was not ashamed to admit what stood before him.

What stood before him was the largest creature had ever seen. The basilisk and Hungarian Horntail didn't even come close. In fact, those two combined wouldn't have even stood at shoulder's length with this creature.

It appeared to be a dragon, or at least Harry thought so. Black scales that were the blackest of black glittered on the creature's upper body, followed by dark gray scales on its underbelly. To long horns perched on top of its head, bending backwards just a bit. Three smaller horns were below the two horns on each cheek. Claws with the thickest and darkest blue adjourned its claws.

The wings, oh god those wings were huge. Instead of leather or even perhaps leathery feathers, the wings seemed to be made out a dark energy, making it look like black fog. Three spikes glinted on its neck as well.

Harry gulped, still completely petrified as he stared into the dragons deep, red eyes. The only thing that brought him comfort was the long bars that kept the dragon away from him. The bars were long, incredibly long, going from the ground all the way to the ceiling that seemed a little over a hundred feet.

The creature sneered at him, licking wickedly sharp and large teeth. "Fresh meat… How long has it been, I wonder?" it asked himself. "Five hundred years? Seven hundred years?"

"That's… that's a long time," Harry said weakly.

Even Tagger was staring at this new creature in horror. This didn't bode well for Harry.

The dark dragon laughed darkly, eyeing Harry and licking its lips in anticipation.

"How do you expect to reach me?" Harry asked, finally able to get control of his shaking body but was still scared to death. He eyed the bars apprehensively, thinking the creature could rip them apart with a simple punch.

The dragon smirked and, before Harry knew it, he was blown backwards by some invisible force. Harry looked around; trying to see what attacked him. The invisible force was as invisible as he had thought. Dark wisps of, what appeared to Harry, solid forms of dark magic.

They slithered towards him in the air, lashing out once more and striking him on Harry's wounded chest, causing him to cry out in pain.

"I think I'll play with for a bit," the dragon said, laying on his side lazily but watching with earnest with a dark glint.

Harry got up quickly and tried to make a run for it but the dark energy grabbed a hold of him and dragged him back. Cursing his dumb luck for forgetting about his wand, Harry conjured two small electric butterfly's, causing the dragon to roar with laughter.

The electric attack didn't really do anything other than land on the dark energy before fizzling away into nothingness. The dark energy lashed out at Harry again. Harry truly tried to dodge the attack but was picked up by the leg and thrown into the air.

Fear soon gave way to anger as one dark energy after another continued to toss him back and forth in the air at a very dangerous level. He was almost eye to eye with the dragon when he screamed, "If you're going to kill me just do it!"

The dragon snorted, but made the dark energy hold Harry high in the air so that they were high level. "So eager to die?" it asked almost bitterly. "Not even going to fight."

Harry snarled, trying to free himself from the dragon's magical grasp. "How can I defeat someone who just plays with me?" he asked, also filled with bitterness. "I wouldn't even get a clear shot of you, despite how big you are."

The dragon looked at him in disappointment. "Not even worth being a midnight snack. If you are so eager for death, you may have it."

The energy released Harry from its grasp, shocking the small wizard. Harry flailed his arms around wildly before transforming and spreading his wings in relief. Of course that relief disappeared when he realized all he could do was glide back down to the ground before being captured once more.

While Harry glided back to the ground and finally landed (for he had been quite high) he wondered why he hadn't been knocked to the ground mercilessly. He looked up into the eyes of the dark dragon that seemed to be regarding him with a new found interest.

"What are you?" it asked, trying to look at Harry closer without hitting the bars.

Taken back by the question, Harry replied, "Human."

"Human?" was the gruff reply. Four particles of dark energy closed around Harry's wrists and ankles, forcing him back into the air at eye level. Harry struggled with all his might but gave up after three futile minutes, already out of breath. He winced as the restraints on him tightened.

"Human?" the creature asked again, this time completely nonplussed, but still with that sinister tone. "You are no human."

"I am too!" Harry shouted. "I… Well, this is just a different form."

The dragon snorted. "A wizard then? No wizard can become a dragon." The dragon eyed him shrewdly. "There are illusions on you." It grinned evilly at Harry before blowing softly.

Harry felt the glamour charms he had placed upon his wrist, ankle and face disappear. Fully disappeared, the dark circles under his eyes could show anybody that he hadn't slept for a long time, even with a scaly face. The manacles glinted hauntingly at him as well.

The dragon let off a loud roar, actually shaking the huge underground room. "Those!" The dragon snarled and began to pace a few times before actually putting its face right against the bars. "Where did you get those?" he demanded, actually starting to salivate since he was son angry.

Harry paled at the look of anger. Voldemort had nothing on this creature.

"You know about the Manacles of Ree—something?"

"The Manacles of Reijuu," the dragon roared angrily. "I know of those accursed devices. No tell me, where did you get them?"

"A man, his name is Voldemort, put them on me," Harry managed to spit out, still freaked out by all this anger and dark energy swirling around him. "How do you know about them? Do you know how to get them off?" Harry asked hopefully, almost forgetting he was dangling in the air by at lest seventy feet.

"No questions," the dragon snapped. It regarded Harry intensely, blood red eyes sweeping over his body. Although Harry was still scared by this dark dragon, he was still annoyed to be snapped at like that and be told not to ask questions.

For how long Harry was kept in the air and regarded he didn't know, but estimated around forty-five minute's total. "Why did you come down here?"

The question startled Harry since neither had breathed a word for a while. For a moment, Harry forgot why he came down here, deep in the Forbidden Forest. "I'm looking for something."

"Well, that narrows everything down, brat," the dragon said sarcastically.

Harry reddened. "I'm looking for an arrow. It belongs to the Centaur herd."

"You, however, are no Centaur."

"I need to get it to save my friends life," Harry said boldly.

"And only moments ago you were prepared to die," the dragon hissed in amusement. The two were quiet for a few minutes.

"What do you know about the manacles?" Harry asked cautiously, finally breaking the silence.

Those red eyes narrowed. "Everything."

"Did you know who was put under these manacles?" Harry asked, wondering if all his questions would be answered.

"I do."

"Will you tell me?" Harry practically begged.

"No."

Harry hung his head in defeat. "Will you tell me anything?"

"Tell me about your life and about how the manacles came upon you."

Harry was lowered to the ground softly. Taking a deep breath, Harry looked up and began telling his story. Harry told the dragon about Voldemort's, his parents, the years of abuse, Hogwarts, the tournament, what he was doing to train himself, everything.

The dragon sniffed with disdain. "You are weak, brat."

Harry's temper rose. "I am not weak!" he shouted.

"You were being tossed around like a rag doll only an hour ago. Not only is your training inefficient because of the lack of time, but because of your weakening mind. Honestly, what were you thinking?"

"I wasn't going to chance going to sleep only to be tortured," Harry said coldly.

"So you didn't bother to tell anybody?"

"I couldn't. They couldn't help and there's no one…" Harry trailed off.

The dragon's evil grin widened. "You do not trust anyone," it stated. "How refreshing it is to see one so young full of distrust and hatred."

Harry didn't reply to that, instead clenching his hand into a fist.

"Now what to do with you?" the dragon mused.

Harry actually rolled his eyes, no longer caring if his mind screamed at him to not anger this creature. "And here I thought you were going to eat me," he said sarcastically.

"No, I have a better use for you." The dragon was silent for a moment. "Let's make a deal, brat."

Harry's brow furrowed. "What kind of deal?" he asked warily.

"One that can benefit us both."

"Like what?" Harry pressed.

"I'm hungry."

Harry backed up. "You said you wouldn't eat me, though!"

"And I won't, brat!" the dragon snarled. "You seek proper training, yes?"

Why did that voice have to sound so tempting all of a sudden? "Yes," Harry said cautiously.

"Like I said, let's make a deal. I'll train you, in exchange for items that will quench my hunger."

Harry looked at the ground in thought. "It's more than food that you want, right?"

"Seems you aren't as stupid as I thought. This will be simpler. I demand that you bring me food, preferably animals from this forest because they are full of meat, and books."

"What kinds of books?"

"The books from your school."

"I can't steal them," Harry said angrily. "They would realize sooner or later books are disappearing."

"I wouldn't keep them, brat," the dragon said impatiently. "I would simply give it back after each lesson."

"Why do you want them?" Harry asked, hardly believing he was having this conversation with someone who had, only moments ago, wanted to kill him.

"Knowledge is everything, brat. I thrive off knowledge. Despite being enslaved in this prison, I am still aware of the world of some events. Sometimes, after many years of patience, I can send my magic out of this prison and gather things to study."

The dragon waved a claw at a mass amount of items in the corner right by his cage that Harry hadn't noticed. Books upon books were stacked on top of each other. Items that Harry wouldn't have even thought existed rested on the ground carefully or on rugs or even boxes. Among those items was the one Harry had been searching for.

"There's the arrow," Harry said in surprise. "Why did you take it?"

"It was during the war that happened only fifteen years ago. Those foolish Centaurs have no idea of the power this arrow can unleash or be used in. Also, it would add to my collection."

"And what about me?" Harry asked. "You want to train me, and I get the feeling you'll want something much bigger than food and books. There's also the manner of the manacles. If you hadn't seen them, I'm pretty sure I would be dead."

"You are right, brat. Before I was imprisoned here almost nine hundred years ago, I made a foolish promise to destroy those blasted things. As you may have noticed, I failed."

Harry waved his tail back and forth before sitting down to rest his tired body. "What else?" he asked.

The dragon smirked darkly. "You'll owe me one favor. You'll know what it is when the time comes."

"How do I know this favor won't involve the death of my friends or myself?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Suspicion," the dragon said silkily. "So much suspicion in you and little trust, brat. Reminds me of myself." The dragon snorted. "I swear an oath that it will not kill you or your friends. Now, do we have a deal?"

"I don't think so," Harry said. He would have to be a fool to accept lessons from this dark creature.

"I can allow you to sleep."

Harry's head snapped up. "You… you can?"

Suddenly, as if in that one little innocent question, both knew that Harry was going to accept.

I can teach you things not of this world, brat. I can teach you things humans, demons, anything of this century do not know of. I can teach you to kill you enemies without regret and quite efficiently."

_So tempting, _Harry thought.

"And I can teach you to protect your friends," the dragon added, knowing this would get Harry.

Harry looked into those red eyes that, while the same color, were so different from Voldemort's. For some reason, that helped Harry a bit. "What kind of things would you teach me?"

"You have skill in the elements, something I have a vast knowledge in. Rituals, spells – don't look surprise I know spells – and most importantly in your case, mind magic."

Harry still wasn't done with his questioning. "You said you wanted to destroy the manacles, yet you haven't told me much about them."

"If you agree, I'll tell you at our next meeting."

Harry cursed inwardly. "And how can I get back here, exactly? This forest is forbidden to me and I'm sure there are going to be people watching my every move."

"I'll deal with that, brat."

"And how, pray tell, are you going to do that?" Harry drawled. "You said your magic can rarely leave this room."

The dragon smirked. "If you accept our deal, you'll know."

Harry sighed and swayed back and forth. He stared at the manacle on his wrist. "If I say yes, will your lessons help me get rid of this thing?"

"It is not impossible, but will be very, very hard. But remember this, brat. Where else will you get any knowledge about those blasted manacles?"

Harry frowned. "I suppose…" Harry looked up steadily. Knowing that he would probably regret this, he said, "It's a deal, but only if you give me that arrow."

The look on the dragons face was absolutely bloodthirsty and triumphant. "You have a deal, brat." Dark energy picked up the arrow and brought to Harry, as well as his wand and the compass. "Put those away safely."

"Why?"

"Because you are about to find out how I will be able to bring you back here." With a malevolent grin, the dragon sent his dark energy at Harry.

Harry screamed in both pain and fright, feeling the magic claw at his skin. "Stop it!" he shouted, thrashing on the ground in pain. Against his will, Harry transformed back into his human self, not having a hint of dragon abilities or scales. Strangely, his eyes stayed fixed.

"Hush, brat," the dragon said with amusement. "I need to plant my magic in your mind so that I can call upon you. That interesting scar shall be a good gateway."

Slowly and agonizingly painful, the dark energy disappeared into Harry's scar and planted itself in the back of his mind where it could act later. Feeling like he was going to be sick, Harry vomited.

"Need to get that potion out of you," the dragon said. "And by the way, brat, the name's Abaddon."

That was all Harry heard before his body was teleported back to the Centaur herd, startling all as he fell to the ground in a bloody heap, wounds bleeding freely.

"Harry? Harry! Let me go, you jerks!"

Harry blinked at the sky. How had he gotten here? What did that bloody dragon do to him? And who was talking to him? Kilian? Yes, that was Kilian!

"Kilian," Harry said weakly, sitting up slowly, aware of all the disbelieving looks coming from the Centaurs. Harry smiled grimly and pulled out the compass and arrow, grim satisfaction coursing through his body as he heard the startled gasps.

"Hah!" Harry couldn't help but shout, before falling on his back, breathing hard. "Kilian's free."

Then, for the first time in a few months, Harry's mind slipped away into unconsciousness. Kilian galloped over to him and knelt, checking for a pulse on his neck. She turned to his herd. "Help him!" she shouted at them.

No one made a move to come any closer.

Kilian's heart dropped. "I'm… I'm free, right?" she asked the elders. "I won't die?"

The shook their heads.

"Fine," Kilian snarled. "Then I herby banish myself and promise never to come here again unless summoned. If by chance any of us meet we will go about our business." With that, Kilian picked Harry up gently and put him on her back, causing loud gasps of outrage.

"Shut it, all of you," Kilian snapped. "He saved my life. The least I could do is save his."

With that, Kilian galloped away, taking care that Harry didn't fall off.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Professor McGonagall closed her eyes tiredly, hardly believing they hadn't found her missing student. All the Gryffindor's were like her children and Mr. Potter was no exception. The loss of a student, any student, was hard on all the teachers.

She caught Flitwick's eye and knew that it was time to turn in and call the aurors. If a student was missing for as long as Potter had and the teachers could not find him, the situation escalated severely. Just as McGonagall was about to turn around, the sound of hooves stamping on the ground alerted her.

To her shock, a young Centaur ran up to her and took a few steady breaths. "Finally," she breathed. "Another human. I need you to help my friend."

"Friend?" Professor McGonagall questioned, wondering why on earth a Centaur seemed so eager for human company. That was when she saw the bloody figure on her back.

"Potter!" McGonagall was by his side in less than a second.

"My name is Kilian," the Centaur said. "Harry's my friend and saved my life. You'll help him, won't you?"

"Yes, yes," McGonagall said hurriedly and sent up red sparks to alert the other teaches. In only a matter of seconds, loud popping noises alerted both McGonagall and Kilian the other teachers had arrived.

Kilian backed up warily, nervous with all the humans surrounding her. Dumbledore was by her side in an instant. "What happened?" he asked, checking for a pulse.

"He saved me," Kilian said. "Saved my life. You'll help him?"

"Of course," Dumbledore said softly. "Severus, kindly run ahead and alert Madam Pomfrey."

"Of course, Headmaster." Snape took off at once, leaving the scene as quickly as he could.

"Will we go now?" Kilian asked impatiently. "Harry's loosing a lot of blood." To prove a point, Kilian pointed at the blood that was starting to coat her back and hair.

"Yes," Dumbledore said patiently. "We'll need two people to steady him while we go. As you apparently want to go with Mr. Potter, will you allow us to help to the Hospital Wing?"

Kilian nodded. "Yes, but lets hurry."

"Let's," McGonagall agreed, holding Harry's thing form to keep him from falling. Together they made their way up to the Hospital Wing where there was bound to be a lot of questioning once Harry woke up.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This took a while, but I had promised to release this earlier and decided to add some more to help appease all of you. First, I would like to thank Letifer Kamisori for most of the spells I used in this chapter. Letifer, I know most of the spells are too powerful for Harry, but really! It would take Merlin, Dumbledore and Voldemort together to do one! So I tweaked it a bit. But thanks again.

And also, I finally got a beta: Suiadan Thank you for this.

Also, the song the Latheon used was the theme from Princess Mononoke. I do not own it.

Now, press that review button people!


	14. Nothing Special

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The dark truly was calming. When you sleep the dark wraps around you like a blanket, blocking your eyes from the light and thus allowing you to sleep. That truly was a wonderful thing. Unfortunately, Harry had long ago given up this comfort and soon found himself confused, realizing he was lying down with his eyes closed and no idea where he was, a sure sign that he had fallen asleep.

Harry opened his eyes tiredly, having never really noticed how heavy they actually were. His eyes were almost opened when he heard the voice he hated most.

"Back at last, pet?"

Harry's eyes snapped open, hardly believing what was happening. As soon as his eyes were open, Harry was met with the sight the large glass cage and Voldemort. Harry jumped backwards, both startled and eager to get away from the snake man.

Harry, however, was yanked back by something on his neck. One end of a chain was attached to something on his neck while the other was in the hands of Voldemort. Harry grabbed the chain with his hands. "I fell asleep," Harry hissed, trying to figure out how that had happened.

"Yes, my pet, you have." Voldemort yanked Harry closer without having to move himself. Harry growled angrily and tried to pull away.

"Why?" Harry hissed. "Why, why, why!?" he screamed, his face dark with hate as he was dragged over to Voldemort. He had done so well, had fought against sleep for so long. How could that have happened?

Harry racked his brain for answers and found that he had none. Whatever the reason, it was unimportant. What was important was that Voldemort was here.

"That is what I would like to know," Voldemort replied. "How is it that you evaded me for so long?"

"Don't you have anything better to do than bother me while I sleep?" Harry demanded.

The chain around Harry's neck disappeared and Voldemort grabbed him by the neck. "I asked you a question, my dear pet, and I demand an answer," Voldemort said dangerously.

Harry glared, hands wrapped around Voldemort's hand. "I'm not telling."

Voldemort slammed Harry's head against the glass, leaving him quite dazed. "What was that?" Voldemort asked, still holding Harry's neck.

Harry groaned as he felt blood trail down trail down from the top of his head. "I said, I'm not telling you."

With an angry cry, Voldemort threw Harry to the ground and used the manacles to spread pain throughout Harry's body. Harry couldn't keep the scream that threatened to burst through his lips quiet. What felt like an eternity later, Harry was released from the pain and curled into a ball, skin twitching from the lasting effects.

Long, spidery fingers gripped his black locks and forced him to face Voldemort. "Did you know that once a man becomes a slave, his body, mind and even soul becomes the masters?"

Harry glared fiercely and tried to back away from the insane man. "I am no slave," Harry said darkly. "You are no master of mine."

Voldemort's grip tightened and he jerked Harry's head backwards, causing the teen to gasp from the sudden jerk. "You belong to me, mind, body and soul," Voldemort whispered fiercely. Those ghostly fingers rubbed against Harry's neck. "What is this?" Voldemort snarled.

Harry bit back a groan as he was thrown against the wall. "What's what?" he asked warily.

"On your neck, Potter!" Voldemort roared.

Surprised at this sudden new anger, Harry hesitantly fingered his neck and felt something smooth on his neck. His thoughts reached the Lameon he had met in the forest. He remembered her kissing him, sucking on his neck…

"You're angry because I have a hickey?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Stand up," Voldemort ordered.

Harry fought against his body but he was still pulled to his feet because of the manacles. _Crazy wanker,_ Harry thought dully.

Voldemort ran his fingers over the hickey, sharp nails causing blood to leak from the small cuts. Harry winced and tried to draw back but Voldemort held him still. "It is what it represents," Voldemort hissed. "When you find one you like, maybe even _love, _you give a piece of yourself to that person."

Voldemort held the struggling Harry close to him and grabbed his jaw roughly. "You forget, my pet, that I own all of you."

Harry gritted his teeth at the pain Voldemort was giving him. "You're hurting me because you don't want me to have a girlfriend?" The incredulity was still in his voice. "And you don't own me," Harry added as an afterthought.

The hand that held Harry's chin grabbed his hair once more and pulled his head backwards. Voldemort held Harry's shirt so that he bent the boy at an uncomfortable angle. Staring at the spot where someone had claimed his prize, _his _prize, Voldemort felt that possessiveness take over.

"If I find out you have someone special that's close to you like that, Harry," Voldemort whispered in Harry's ear, "I'll make you kill them before making you lick her blood from the ground."

A whimper escaped Harry's throat from the awkward position Voldemort had pushed him, and because of the thought that he could never get close to anyone for fear of losing them. Anger quickly overrode his self-pity and Harry said angrily, "What the heck's your problem? If I didn't know better, I would think you'd want my body for some sick fantasy you might have since you obviously can't get any."

"Disgusting boy!" Voldemort yelled and threw Harry to the ground. Harry tried to get up but a heavy boot slammed down on his neck, cutting off all air circulation. "You dare think that _I,_ Lord Voldemort, would stoop as low as my Death Eaters?"

The boot on Harry's neck increased its pressure. Harry clawed at the boot, desperately needing air.

"I have no need pathetic actions such as rape to make myself feel important, powerful, and like my Death Eaters. You forget that I already am powerful, Potter, and do not need weak assaults such as that. Understand, boy?" Voldemort hissed menacingly, putting even more pressure on Harry's neck.

Weakly, Harry nodded and gasped for air as the boot released him. Breathing hard, Harry clutched at his neck and just glared at Voldemort defiantly.

"You just haven't learned your place yet, have you?" Voldemort asked silkily, regarding the boy at his feet gasping for breath. The anger and defiance in Harry's eyes brought a smirk to Voldemort's face. How he wished he had the boy in his grasp in the real world where he could rip him apart and then rebuild him.

Sensing that the glass cage that they were in was starting to lose focus, Voldemort realized Harry was going to wake up soon. Kneeling down, Voldemort petted Harry's hair. "Be good, my pet, and don't forget who owns you."

Harry scooted away from the touch, wishing with all his might that the being before him would just disappear.

"But you still have not answered my question," Voldemort said thoughtfully. "How did you evade me for so long?"

Harry opened his mouth, ready to tell Voldemort to go to Hell, but the glass prison flickered and Harry was forced awake.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry felt his eyes flicker, trying to allow him to wake up fully. He could hear voices, all of which blurry and incomprehensible. Stifling a groan, Harry tried to roll over.

"Don't move, Mr. Potter," came a stern voice, causing Harry to open his eyes.

"Madam Pomfrey," Harry croaked. A glass of water with a straw was thankfully brought to him. Taking a large gulp, Harry sighed as he surveyed the room. He smiled at Hermione who gave him a watery grin.

His eyes landed on Ron for only a brief moment before moving on. He didn't notice Ron's shoulders tense and collapse on a chair. Hermione did, though, and put a reassuring arm around him.

Harry saw McGonagall, Snape and Dumbledore all looking at him and he felt a sense of guilt rise in his chest, realizing that he probably had the whole school worried about him. Harry didn't dare look at his teachers in the eye and instead looked at the last figure in the room.

"Kilian!" Harry exclaimed in surprise.

Kilian smirked at him. "Good to see you're up," she told him as she trotted over to his side. To her surprise, Harry sat up quickly and gave her a tight hug. She laughed after a moment. "Guess I'm not that surprised to see you're up, though. Not with all that magic and strength you have."

Harry blushed at the rare praise from the Centaur. "Kilian, what about your herd? Did they—"

"I already explained it to everyone," Kilian said.

"What!"

Hermione glided over to his other side. "Hush, Harry," she told him gently. "Kilian told us about how you both met during the summer and sometimes snuck out to meet her in the forest."

Harry shifted guiltily under all the adults' gazes. Snape's smirk was what scared him the most. It promised him pain, humiliation and expulsion.

"The thing is—" Harry started, but was cut off as Vox flew through the open window, screeched angrily at everyone, and landed on Harry's leg, refusing to let go. Harry and Vox scowled at each other. "Stupid Eerie," Harry growled out.

Vox gave a superior look before, just like that, falling asleep and still attached to Harry's leg.

Everyone gave the strange creature a small glance before focusing on Harry. He fought the urge to shift guiltily.

"I told them about the spiders, Harry," Kilian said, tail flicking with annoyance as everyone turned to stare at her.

Harry kept his face blank. _What is she talking about? Did she make up a story? How the heck does she expect me to keep up with her if I don't know what she told them?_

"What were you doing near those spiders?" Ron asked, looking pale at he mere thought of the giant, eight legged monsters.

Harry stared at Ron for a moment before glancing at Kilian, urging her to continue.

"We weren't near the nest," Kilian snapped, giving Ron a disapproving glare for even thinking that she was stupid enough to invade their nest. "They were hunting, and we were unfortunate enough to be their prey." Kilian suddenly smirked. "But of course they were no match for the both of us, especially with Harry using all those fire curses he knows."

Harry had to admit it was good excuse, although he wished Kilian hadn't told the others he was becoming a natural with an element curse. Element spells were perhaps the hardest to control, not only because of the power it drains, but because it _is _wild. Nature and elements can not be tamed, only guided.

"Really?" Dumbledore said, looking at Harry with a small smile on his face. "I would be interested to know what spell you used on them."

"_Incendium Vitae_," Harry answered.

"Really?" Dumbledore said again. "What shape did you urge the fire to become?"

"A raptor," Harry answered, his mind landing on the fight with the giant reptiles.

"Miss Kilian mentioned a fire spell that turned into a dragon," Dumbledore said, staring intently at the two.

Suddenly, Harry felt like his brain was itchy. Shaking himself to try and relieve himself of the sensation, Harry realized he could feel his Occlumency shields instinctively go up. Harry schooled his emotions not to show the shock that was forming in the pit of his stomach. Dumbledore just tried to break into his mind!

"Did you feel that?" Tagger asked, forming at Harry's side. "Did what I think just happen?"

Did the Headmaster truly try to break into his mind? Harry would have to find a way to make his shields stronger with a limited amount of time.

"I made others," Harry said softly, only looking at Dumbledore's forehead. "There were a lot of spiders, and spells and weapons were pretty much everywhere."

No one said another word for while.

"I will take your word on it," Dumbledore finally said. "But do not think your actions will not be punished."

Harry looked at Kilian before nodding to his professors.

"Two week's detention and not being allowed to go to the first Hogsmeade trip should be enough," Dumbledore said.

Snape jumped at that. "Enough?" he hissed. "Favoritism is blocking your thoughts once again, Headmaster. If it had been any other student, they would have been expelled from the spot."

"Do not be so sure, Severus," Dumbledore said, staring deep into Snape's eyes. "If that were the case, the Weasely twins and a fair share of your young snakes would have been expelled long ago."

The two were now in a staring contest. Snape, his eyes hard and unwilling to back down, while Dumbledore's remained soft and kind.

"Very well," Snape said grudgingly. "If that is all, I shall return to my quarters."

"Goodnight, Severus," Dumbledore called to the retreating professor. He turned to the others. "I shall do the same, since all manners have been dealt with. Kilian, would you prefer to stay or shall I take you back to your forest?"

"I'll stay," Kilian said, daring the old man to make her leave.

Harry stared at Kilian, suddenly wondering just how she managed to get all the way up to the Hospital Wing with all those stairs. Harry knew without a doubt Kilian wouldn't accept help from any other human or – dare he say it? – be levitated to the Hospital Wing

"Very well. Harry," Dumbledore said. "Minerva will tell you some more rules about you and your friend."

"New rules?" Harry asked, watching the Headmaster leave.

"Yes, Mr. Potter, new rules." McGonagall came to his side. "The Headmaster does not wish for two friends such as you and Kilian to never be able to see each other just because of species."

"Umbridge threw a fit, though," Ron whispered in the corner, a grin quite noticeable on his face.

"Professor Umbridge does not have as much power as she would like," McGonagall replied with a clipped tone. "While the Minister grants her unreasonable privileges, there are still those who are able to keep her in line. Fortunately, especially with her teaching, or lack of, she just might be removed soon."

Harry grinned happily at Hermione. She rolled her eyes at his excitement.

"Now about those rules. If you two would still like to meet, it must be Kilian who leaved the forest and is actually in plain sight. Potter, you are not allowed to be ten feet near the Forbidden Forest except for Care of Magical Creatures where a professor will be sure to keep an eye on you."

"Is that all?" Harry asked.

"No, Mr. Potter, it is not." Harry grimaced at the harsh tone. "If we catch you out of bounds like that again, suspension will be issued and if it's a third time, expulsion will be necessary."

Harry paled at the thought. Hermione stared at Harry wondering how she would make him obey the rules this time. Ron wondered when McGonagall would stop talking so he could apologize to Harry.

"What would happen if I got suspended?" Harry asked meekly.

Everyone stared at him in disbelief.

"Please don't tell me you actually plan on sneaking into the forest again," Professor McGonagall said wearily.

Harry shook his head. "No, nothing like that. I just wasn't aware that Hogwarts suspended students."

Suspension means no special activities, such as Quidditch." Here she paused to give Harry a look that promised more pain than Snape could ever give if he broke the rules. "Your wand will be taken away while you are to stay in your Common Room during the day, only allowed to leave for meals. Don't even think about Hogsmeade trips, either. Would you like me to tell you about expulsion?"

"No thanks," Harry said quickly. "I promise I'll obey the rules, professor." _In front of a professor, at least. _"And won't enter the Forbidden Forest." _And be caught._

"Good," McGonagall said. "I expect to see you in class quite healthy, so don't leave until Madame Pomfrey says so."

"Got it," Harry called to the Transfiguration teacher as she left.

Kilian waited until no adult was within hearing distance before doing a little jump. "That doesn't seem too bad to me!"

"Unless I get expelled or suspended," Harry said with a grin.

"But you didn't," Kilian replied, circling the Hospital Wing in excitement.

Harry cocked his head at her. "Kilian, what did happen with your herd?"

A frown appeared on Kilian's face and she scoffed angrily. "I banished myself. I couldn't stand living with them."

Hermione gasped. "But what about your family and friends?"

"I had none," Kilian replied coldly.

"But to sill leave them?" Ron asked quizzically.

"Don't get into matters that you don't understand," Kilian said, turning her back to the other two.

Harry rolled his eyes at her tone but his voice still remained serious. "What about living conditions?"

Kilian tapped the floor thoughtfully. "I've lived in the forest my whole life, so I know my way around."

"Knew you would," Harry replied, laying against the pillows and moving his leg so Vox wouldn't get squished.

"Harry."

Harry turned to look at Hermione. "Yea, 'Mione?"

"Ron has something to say," she said quickly, glaring at Ron and silently urging him to say something.

Harry now turned to look at Ron. "I don't have anything to say to him," Harry said coldly.

Ron fidgeted.

"But Ron has something to say to you," Hermione said.

"Hermione, if Ron had something to say, he would have said it already and would not be using you to speak for him." Harry narrowed his eyes.

"I… I… look, Harry," Ron tried, but Harry interrupted.

"No, Ron, you look," Harry said with barely concealed anger. "You had no right to say that to me. Look around, Ron, where are we?"

Ron looked around. "The Hospital Wing?" he asked with confusion.

"And what is the Hospital Wing in?"

"Hogwarts?"

"And just what is Hogwarts, Ron?"

"A castle?"

"No, you idiot," Harry snarled. "A school. Why do we go to school? To learn! I've been lagging on my studies every year I've been here, and just because I decided to grow up and study doesn't mean I'm a power hungry bastard."

"I didn't say that!" Ron defended.

"No, but you did say I was like Voldemort," Harry said, glaring down at the red head. Beside him Kilian snorted with disbelief and anger. "There is a difference between being power hungry and just trying be powerful," Ron," Harry said, much more softy this time.

"I know," Ron said, looking down.

"No, Ron, I don't think you do." Harry sighed. "You're my best friend Ron, and my first friend I've ever had. Do you know what its like to be hated by someone like that just because unexpected events happen?"

"I'm sorry about the Triwizard Tournament, Harry," Ron said miserably.

"I know you are," Harry said patiently. "And I forgave you when you apologized." Ron looked up hopefully. "But that doesn't mean I will this time."

Ron looked down again. "I understand," he said quietly. "I've been a real git, haven't I?" He didn't wait for anyone to answer. "Living with all my brothers, I just sort of grew up in a competition, and not once did I realize my friends weren't a part of it. I really am sorry, Harry." Ron dropped a bag at the foot of Harry's bed. "It's all our homework from when you were gone."

Harry nodded in thanks and watched Ron walk out this time.

"Harry," Hermione breathed. She looked at him with unshed tears.

Harry smiled. "Don't worry, Hermione. I already forgave him."

"What?" Kilian and Hermione said at the same time.

Harry laughed. "I already forgave him, Hermione," he repeated. "But I think it's only fair that it's Ron who learns to grow up this time."

Hermione stared at him in disbelief. "You are impossible," she said with a sigh, but still managing a large grin.

"I know," Harry said cheerfully.

Hermione yawned. "Guess it's my turn to leave." She turned stare at Kilian. "Do watch over him for me, please."

Kilian stared Hermione thoughtfully. "Of course I will."

"I don't need watching over," Harry said with a scowl.

"Yes, you do," they both answered, earning a giggle from each girl.

"Girls," Harry muttered. With everyone finally out of the Hospital Wing, Harry turned to Kilian seriously. "Do you think they know?"

"Of course the adults don't think we told the truth," Kilian said. "But they are going with it, and that's what counts." Kilian looked at him quizzically. "You slept."

Harry felt the cold coils of dread cover him. "I did." He sighed and snatched his wand off of the table next to it. His shirt and a small bag of all the rocks, hairs and anything else he found in the forest. Quickly doing a few privacy spells, Harry let Kilian question him.

"What happened to you? I mean, what on earth attacked you?"

"Well, going deeper and deeper into the forest means more and bigger creatures," Harry said as he began to tell her everything.

"I didn't know anything was sealed in this forest," Kilian said with a hint of wonder.

"Sealed?" Harry asked.

"Animals, and maybe humans, can be sealed inside items. It was a daily practice hundreds of years ago, especially for those who used swords or staffs. It's usually small animals like snakes or a bird that get sealed because it takes so much magic. If you're right about this dragon thing being as tall and powerful as you're saying, then I'd hate to meet the one who sealed it inside. Whoever it was had to be extremely powerful."

"Really powerful," Harry said, thinking about Abaddon. "He called himself Abaddon," Harry said thoughtfully. "Does it mean anything?"

"It means to destroy or monster of destruction," Kilian said. "How fitting for a monster."

"I guess," Harry said, not really knowing what to say to that statement. Did he view Abaddon as a monster? He certainly was scary enough to be a monster in a nightmare, but because Harry had already been through so much, he had different definitions about monsters.

"How do you know it's a he?" Kilian asked suddenly.

"What?" Harry blinked a few times, not sure he heard right.

"Abaddon, did it say it was a boy?"

"No, but Abaddon had a really deep voice, and, well, I dunno. Do we have to talk what sex Abaddon is?"

"I guess not," Kilian said. "I just thought with your dragon senses you could tell."

"Dragon senses," Harry muttered with a grin.

"So," Kilian said strictly. "I noticed a little something, something on your neck."

Harry blushed.

"Those scratches weren't on you when I carried you," Kilian said with narrowed eyes.

"I know," Harry said quietly. "Remember, I feel asleep. Voldemort was there and got pissed and banged me up a little."

Kilian grimaced. "Sorry," she muttered.

"Don't be, it's not your fault."

"So, this Abaddon guy said he could help?"

"Yea, and that's why I agreed to let him train me."

"What does he want in return?"

"Knowledge and some help later on," Harry said, tapping his chin in thought.

Kilian tilted her chin up a little. "Be careful with what and how you bargain, Harry. Any creature can use the wording to their own advantage."

"I'll be careful," Harry promised.

"You always say that," Kilian said. "But I'll let you be. It's your life and your decisions, after all."

Harry stared at Kilian, eyes shining. "Thank you, Kilian," he exclaimed brightly. Never, never had anyone said that to him. There was always someone out there trying to control him.

"Don't think I'm done questioning you, though. I also see a hickey under those scratches, and I know for a fact you didn't have that before the whole arrow thing."

Harry blushed, having left that part out. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Ooh, a secret lover," Kilian whispered. "C'mon, Harry, tell this curious Centaur." Kilian advanced on him. "Or I'll tickle you."

"No!" Harry tried to push Kilian away but because so much bigger and heavier than him, he had no such luck and was then tickled mercilessly. "Sto… Hahaha! Stop it!" Harry felt tears slide down his cheeks as he laughed harder and harder.

Vox screeched loudly at the two for being woken up and flew over to one of the spare beds, but not before hitting Harry upside the head.

"O… Heheh, stop! I'll tell," Harry said in between pants as he squirmed away from her grip.

"Knew you'd tell," Kilian said arrogantly.

Harry grumbled about stubborn horses, earning a victorious smirk from his friend. "While searching for the arrow, I came across Lameon."

Kilian reared back. "Sluts," she hissed dangerously. "Did it… rape you?"

Harry shook his head quickly. "No, I broke her spell before things went out of control. She told me, well, that her species are sex addicts and can't help it."

"Lies," Kilian said scornfully. She sighed at seeing Harry's confused face. "Just promise me you won't hang around anymore Lameons. Snake demons and other snake beings are ok, so long as you earn their respect, but please don't go near them again."

Harry furrowed his brow at Kilian's serious expression. "Ok," he promised. "But what about my promise not to enter the forest again?"

"As if you're going to follow those rules," Kilian said with a smirk. "I know you too well."

"Indeed you do," Harry said, grinning mischievously. "But now I have to be more careful than before."

"Perhaps Abaddon will teach you a thing or two."

"I hope so," Harry said. "Abaddon said he would deal with me getting to him, but I have no idea when or how."

Kilian shrugged. "Don't look at me; I haven't the faintest clue on how you're getting out of here with so many people watching you."

"I guess not," Harry said watching Kilian yawn. He only just realized how late it was. Or perhaps early since a quick _tempus_ told him it was five in the morning. "Get some sleep, Kilian, and thanks for everything."

"No problem," Kilian said tiredly, going over to stand in front of the window and falling asleep quickly.

Harry stared at his sleeping friend. He smiled, happy that she would no longer be in any danger from her herd. That reminded him, he would still have to get the full story from her. _Perhaps _it's_ too painful, _Harry thought. _I don't need to push her._

While Harry was thinking about how lucky he was to have great friends, two very different beings narrowed red eyes in thought as plans formed in their head.

Yes, things were going well for those two.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

So, not much here except another chat with Voldemort. I'm sorry, but I just love torturing Harry. Anyway, some might not like how Harry forgave Ron so fast, but you know what? He's just a nice guy.

Questions!

Who are your fav. pairings?

Can the Lumos charm change color? I've wondered about that. I mean, what if someone held a green light. Would people think Avada Kedavra coming!?


	15. Rising Sun

Thank you, Dragonmaster, about the money issues. I did indeed forget how much I made galleons. When I made the chapter to Gringotts, I saw a Harry Potter website that told you how much galleons were in U.S. money and British pounds. Forgive me for this mistake. Things will be fixed. Pounds will be used in muggle London from now on.

Also, I've gotten several questions about Mushu. There is an actual story about this. I know all of you remember the The Council. Well, the only way I could describe this was if I could use an actual guardian. And guess what? Mushu was it. Information won't show up for a long time. I just needed to clear this up with a few people.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Ash,_

_How's the garage doing? Is Switch doing ok since I last saw her? I know I've probably asked about a dozen times already but the look on her face was so… blank. Please tell me she's doing alright. What about Gadget and Jay? Have they finally decided on what color the new mustang they've been working on is going to be? I can only assume that Hop is keeps them in line before the fights erupt. _

_I can also only assume she's studying more and more about healing. With that last accident, when the engine blew up, Hop must have been pretty busy patching everyone up. _

_Schools been ok… Well, not so much ok. Remember how I kept telling you about sneaking out? Well, I've been finally caught. And don't you dare accuse me of being a lousy hider. I pretty much got my ass handed to me by some hundred foot black mist dragon. It was caged underground for some reason. The only reason it didn't kill me was because it saw those bloody manacles._

_Ash, you wouldn't happen to know about sealing, would you? 'Cuz I'm pretty sure that's what happened to this creature. He calls himself Abaddon. If you met him I'm sure you'd agree it's a perfect name. Anyway, he offered me training but that was well over a week ago, but I haven't even come into contact with him. Abaddon told me we'd meet… somehow, but nothing seems to be happening. Guess all I can do is wait for something to happen._

_Other than that, nothing else is new. I sent a few wand cores to Mr. Ollivander but he seems more eager for me to break another dozen rules to get him basilisk poison. Crazy wanker. Ah well, what can you do? Write back soon!_

_Harry_

_P.S. If Hop wants some wizard books on healing I can lend her some. I remember you telling me how much she wants to master the art but can't get a lot of information on the subject._

Ash wagged her tail as she finished reading the letter on her bed, a happy grin etched upon her face. _Stray, you're something else._

"He write back to you?" came Switch's cold voice by the door. She leaned against the doorway with her arms folded and a bored look on her face. Her eyes, however, were narrowed in that accusing look she always wore.

"Yep," Ash replied happily. "Stray got in trouble at school. Finally got caught for breaking a few rules." Ash sighed dramatically. "If only we could teach him the ropes. We're the best at getting away with stuff."

Switch snorted, soon becoming uninterested in the topic and made to move back downstairs.

Ash noticed Switch leaving and said offhandedly, "He's been asking about you again."

Switch made a low growling noise. "Is he still worried about what happened with me and my sister? That happened over a month ago."

"Well, we did get him involved but offered no answers," Ash said pointedly. "Stray cares too much to just let it drop."

"He'll get killed because of that," Switch said with a sigh, allowing smoke to escape from her mouth.

"Now, maybe," Ash said admitted. "But later maybe not."

"…"

"I think you should write back!" Ash declared happily.

"_Excuse me?" _Switch growled.

"Write him back," Ash repeated, jumping off her bed and hopping over to Switch. "You always get annoyed with him asking if you're ok or not, so why don't you just write him yourself?"

"No."

"Why not?" Ah said, a little taken back by the coldness of Switch's voice.

"That would be a waste of my time," Switch said, baring her teeth.

"Oh please," Ash said, putting her hands on her hips. "You've just never had a friend other than our little family of garage kids before."

"Your point?"

"You're shy," Ash said bluntly.

"I have nothing to say to him."

"You thought of him as a friend."

"Did not."

"Acquaintance then!" Ash said exasperatedly. "For goodness sake, Switch, you don't need to write him your life story. Just say you're ok, that's all Stray wants to hear."

Switch sighed. "What's with the name anyway? Why'd you give him a name?"

A single ear bent in thought. "He was deserted," Ash said matter a factly.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Defense Against the Dark Arts is a joke," Harry remarked at breakfast, earning a few looks from his classmates.

Ron gave a particular big eyed look. "But that's your favorite subject, Harry."

The two hadn't exactly patched things up, but Harry was more than willing to talk with a friendly banter if Ron would.

"Not really," Harry said with a shrug. Well, at least not that's being taught. Have you been paying attention to the teachers we've had?"

"Course I have," Ron said. "But what can we do?"

Harry leaned close to Hermione and Ron conspiringly. "We ditch," he whispered.

"Harry!" Hermione snapped. "Why on earth would you do such a thing?"

"Come on, Hermione," Harry whined. "We're not learning anything and you know it. It's waste of time, that's what it is. Besides, even if I never go to a single class but go to my O.W.L.s and get a good grade it won't matter."

"Blimey, Harry," Ron whispered so that a passing McGonagall wouldn't hear them. "Do you honestly think it's worth it? I mean, those tests are hard and all."

Harry shrugged. "If you know the material, it shouldn't be too hard."

"But what if you get caught?" Ron asked.

"I'm not going to get caught," Harry said confidently.

"What makes you so sure?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"This time I won't let anything attack me," Harry said with a grin.

"Yea, but—"

"Let him do it," Hermione interrupted.

Both boys blinked at this. "Huh?"

Hermione looked at their open mouths with amusement. "I said you can do it, Harry. Ron and I aren't your parents. Although I would prefer you to go to class, you obviously aren't benefiting from Professor Umbridge. Beside, I know you've been studying hard lately," Hermione said with a proud smile. "After all, it's your decision to make."

Harry remembered to close his mouth before he looked too stupid. Sliding closer to Hermione, Harry slid an arm around her to give her a light hug. "You understand me now?" he asked her quietly so that only she could hear.

"Only a little," Hermione said back just as quietly. "I know you're changing, Harry, but don't change to the point I can't recognize my brother and friend."

"That won't happen, Hermione. I promise you that." Releasing Hermione from his hug, Harry go up and stretched before checking on his schedule. After DADA they had Transfiguration. "See you guys at class, then."

Harry left breakfast a bit early and made it back to the Gryffindor Common Room just before the bell rang, signaling that classes had started. Figuring the Common Room would be empty, Harry almost jumped when he saw the twins round a corner.

"Harry?" the twins asked.

"Don't you have class…" Fred started.

"…or did you decide to ditch and follow in our footsteps?" George finished.

Harry shook his head. "I doubt I'll ever play a prank. My heart just isn't into them like yours are."

The twin's tutted. "Untrue Harry," George said.

"In fact," Fred said with a grin, "we'll help you pull off some really big ones this year."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he drawled before glancing up at the raccoons. "Hey, Chame. Hey, Mao."

"Hiya, Harry!" they both greeted before rushing over to Tagger to have a chat.

"So don't you class?" George asked.

"Don't you?" Harry shot back.

"Good point," George said, chuckling.

"I have DADA," Harry said. "Not worth going there anymore."

"You're behind the times," Fred said. "We've been ditching that class since week two."

"Had a whole lot of detentions," George added. "But after a while they just stopped.

"That's because Umbridge doesn't give a shit about being a teacher," Harry said casually, leaning against one of the armchairs. "So what are you two up to?"

"A little of this, a little of that," Fred offered.

Harry waited for more of an answer but received none. Shrugging, Harry said, "Well, guess I'll see you all later."

"See ya!" the twins called as Harry ran up the stairs to his dormitory and entered his trunk.

"This feels weird," Harry said, looking at all the expensive looking things before entering the library.

"What do you mean?" Tagger asked.

Harry gestured to the gold lining on the fire place. "It just feels a bit odd to be surrounded by such luxurious items."

"Why? You paid for it."

"I know, but I'm just not used to this."

"It's alright, Harry," Tagger said gently. "You don't need to over spend on anything, and you already wrote to Gringotts about allowing the businesses to be run they way they've always been run. There's no need for you to worry about businesses just yet."

"But what about making blood banks and stuff like that?"

Tagger shrugged. "There has to more than just you who wants those things, Harry. Just search them out and help donate some money. That should help."

"Hope so," Harry said, now moving toward his book case. "Any ideas on what I should read this time?"

Tagger floated over to the book case, looking at each one critically. "Oh, hey! How about that one about Pureblood Etiquette?"

Harry laughed, pulling the white book with silver designs from among the other books. "That should be entertaining." Still laughing, Harry opened it up to the first page.

At first his eyes held amusement and curiosity, but soon they grew wide and round. A large blush and disgusted look appeared on his face. "Ew, gross!" he exclaimed before tossing the book away.

Tagger's jaw was wide open. "How to rape your enemy's wife in 27 ways properly," Tagger muttered weakly.

"Pureblood Etiquette," Harry mumbled. "No wonder that was in a dark arts store. It had nothing but old Pureblood torture traditions."

"With moving pictures," Tagger said. He looked at Harry. "Wanna look again?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Harry, you ok?" Hermione asked as he sat down next to her in Transfiguration.

He nodded. "Just found out I bought a… different type of book when we went school shopping."

Hermione sent him a curious look. "What do you –?"

"Forget it," Harry said quickly. "Just forget it."

Hermione pursed her lips but didn't say another word as McGonagall started her lesson.

"You may have all noticed the squirrels on your desk," Professor McGonagaal began strictly.

"Kinda hard not to," Ron muttered, causing Harry to grin as he watched the squirrel try to bite Ron's fingers off.

"Throughout your years at Hogwarts we have transfigured unmovable objects into other unmovable object, cups into birds, cats into mice and other such things. Now we shall transform these mammals into reptiles. Once you have all mastered this, you shall transform reptiles into mammals, which is much harder. The spell is _Abeo. _Use this word and then choose a reptile in Latin.

You should all know your Latin by now." Professor McGonagall gave them all a stern glare. "But if you don't, the words are up on the board."

Harry looked up and saw different snakes, lizards, and turtles. From the little Latin he knew, he could at least understand animal words.

"Perhaps adding a language to your studying would be good," Tagger said. "You're already practicing a bit of Japanese, why no add Latin?"

Harry hummed in agreement. That would be a good idea. Reflecting on it, Harry couldn't understand why Hogwarts didn't make students learn Latin. He knew at muggle schools the students had to at least learn one language.

Harry glanced at Hermione as she said, _"Abeo Tartaruga." _Her squirrel immediately transformed into a small turtle. Professor McGonagall congratulated Hermione on her success, making her blush heavily.

When Professor McGonagall turned her attention on him, Harry quickly pointed his wand at his own animal. "_Abeo Sonaglio._" With a small twitch, an extremely furry snake with tiny paws stared up at Harry with large buck teeth and a rattle on its tail.

"Try again, Potter," McGonagall informed him, returning the Squirrel to normal. "You need to think out the design in your mind. Allow that picture to take life."

"Like art?" Harry asked.

"If you would like to think that way, then yes."

Harry nodded to his teacher as she walked off. Harry placed his hands under his chin. "What should I make you?" he mused.

All the squirrel gave for an answer was to fall asleep.

"Lazy bugger," Harry replied, scratching the slightly large belly. "Your belly reminds me of Jack," Harry said to the sleeping creature. "Not that he's fat, mind you, just extremely big and tall."

"Harry?" Ron asked. "Are you talking to that squirrel?"

"Yep," Harry said, not at all bothered by the look Ron and the ones that heard him were giving him. "I just figured out what I'm going to choose." Harry looked at Ron's lizard. It had a curved, furry tail and a squirrels head. Smirking, and feeling a bit more confident, Harry focused on the image in his mind and said, "_Abeo Alligatore._"

The sleeping squirrel started to grow in size, turning greener and harder. Pretty soon it was so big and heavy, the whole table collapsed under its weight, sending Hermione's turtle sliding under a few feet. Harry grinned at his accomplishment. He even managed to get a pair of pants on the large Alligator.

"A bit too much, Potter," Professor McGonagall sighed. "But five points to Gryffindor for using a word that wasn't on the board. Now fix this up."

"Yes, ma'am," Harry said, smiling slightly and ignoring the jealous looks coming off the Slytherin's.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dinner had to be the strangest affair in Harry's life. The moment he entered the Great Hall, his head, just like everybody else's, had turned to the teacher's table.

"Yea, baby! This stuff is good! Hey honey, you wanna give me a bit of that chicken?"

Harry saw Professor McGonagall's face. It took all of his will not to burst at her narrowed eyes and extremely thinned lips. Standing on his toes, Harry tried to see over the heads in front of him to see who or what was making such a racket.

"Hey, tall, dark and moody," the figure said to Snape who looked like he was about to hex the being to oblivion. "Want some pink lemonade?"

The Great Hall burst out into laughter but almost instantly quieted from the enraged expression on the potion masters face, although there were still a few giggles. Harry's included when he realized what was on the table.

"Mushu!" he called, gaining the attention of everyone. Snape's in particular was what almost caused Harry to flinch. What was it with that man and glaring at him with so much hate?

"Harry!" the small dragon all but screamed, flying at Harry and hugging him around the face.

"Hem, hem."

Both Mushu and Harry looked at the toad professor as she walked calmly down to them. The children spread apart, allowing her easy access to him.

"Man, you're in trouble," Mushu whispered into Harry's ear.

"And whose fault is that?" Tagger asked the red dragon.

"Certainly not mine," Mushu responded with an innocent smile.

This caused Harry to blink surprise. He had no idea Mushu could see Tagger. Did that he mean he could see the two raccoons?

The smile on Umbridge's face was anything but kind. Her toady little eyes darted over and over his body, making Harry more than just a little creeped out.

"Is that little beast yours?" she asked sweetly, though her eyes remained cold.

"No," Harry replied honestly.

"Then whose is it? You do know that dangerous beasts aren't allowed on Hogwarts grounds, do you?"

Harry wanted to punch the short woman. Her voice was so annoying, and where did she get off with this dangerous creature business?

"Hey, hey, hey!" Mushu shouted. "I'm just a loveable little dragon here to deliver a message."

By now every single eye was on Harry, including the Headmasters.

"A message? Professor Umbridge asked, latching onto that. "Give it here."

"What? No!" Harry backed up a few spaces. "You have no right to go through my mail!"

"Now see here," Professor Umbridge started. "As Under Secretary…"

"And as a professor you have no right to go through student belongings without their permission," Dumbledore interrupted, staring at her intently and leaving no room for arguments.

Professor Umbridge stared just as hard at the old wizard before relenting. Though she gave up, that smug smile told everyone that she wouldn't leave this alone. She would gain power, one way or another.

"Mr. Potter, perhaps it is best if you take your little friend somewhere more private. Ten points from Gryffindor for the little scene your friend performed."

Harry nodded. "Yes, sir."

Trying to ignore the many stares, Harry maneuvered his way out of the great Hall quickly and toward the Owlery.

"Harry, where did you get that thing?" Ron asked as he and Hermione followed him.

"Watch it, boy," Mushu snapped, puffing out a match sized ball of flame. "I don't belong to anybody and I'm no 'that thing'."

"Sorry," Ron said, backing up a bit where the tiny and un-lethal flame disappeared.

"His name is Mushu," Harry said. "Mushu, this is Ron and Hermione, my two best mates."

"Nice to meet you, Mushu," Hermione said while beaming at Harry's words and looking at Mushu in amazement.

"I like this one," Mushu said, grinning widely. Taking Hermione by the hand, he said quite slyly, "Hola, senorita," before kissing her hand. Hermione erupted into a fit of giggles.

"Bonsoir, monsieur," Hermione said with a grin.

Harry, unable to resist, said, "Adepto a cella."

Hermione and Ron looked at him in surprise. "I didn't know you spoke fluent Latin," Hermione said, clearly impressed.

"I don't," Harry said. "I've only just begun studying Latin."

"Why?" Ron asked. "Why do you guys want to know a different language?" Ron immediately wished he hadn't said that when he got three stares that clearly said 'Are you an idiot?'

"Because we use Latin spells, Ron" Harry said patiently. "It would be good to know and speak the language we are using or just because you want to."

"Sounds like too much work," Ron muttered.

Mushu eyed Ron with disinterest before handing Harry a few letters rolled up into what looked like tiny scrolls. "Ashy and Switchy mailed ya," Mushu said.

"Switch mailed me?" Harry asked, clearly surprised but sounding quite pleased. He took the letters and pocketed them. "Thanks, Mushu. Tell the others I said hi."

"Will do," Mushu said before winking at Tagger and flying off through the window in the Owlery.

"Who're Switch and Ash?" Ron asked.

"Couple of people I met over the summer," Harry supplied. "We became pen pals. Ash was the one who helped with the hair ideas." Harry smiled fondly as he ran a hand through his green and black hair.

Turning his back to the others, Harry addressed Hedwig. "How's my girl doing?"

Hedwig hooted in response and puffed up as Harry stroked her wing.

"And how about Padfoot the owl?" Harry asked, petting the black owl.

"Why did you name him Padfoot?" Hermione asked curiously.

Harry grinned. "He used to tease his siblings before they… were killed. Well, Padfoot would always play a bit harder than the others and I couldn't help but remark, out loud, mind you, that he was a lot like Padfoot the human. Of course this little guy wouldn't respond to any other name after that so Padfoot stayed."

"That's pretty funny and interesting," Hermione said, petting the owl. "It looks like he might be able to fly in a few months. He's starting to gain some black feathers."

Harry lifted Padfoot's wing and could see adult feathers growing over the black baby feathers. "Lucky guy," Harry muttered fondly before following his friends out of the Owlery and toward the Common Room since they already missed dinner.

On the way out, Ron whispered, "What did you say to them anyway?"

Harry grinned. "I told them to get a room," he said before leaving a slack jawed Ron.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Despite other letters telling you that I am fine, apparently you not satisfied. Well, I am fine. Ash's letters should have told you that already. What happened with Crystal was unimportant. It's best if you worry about your own problems so stop thinking about that. _

_Switch_

_P.S. Hop says she would appreciate it if you sent her those books._

Harry folded the letter. It was short, very short. This left Harry unsatisfied. He knew he didn't like Switch as girlfriend material. Heck, he didn't like anyone that way, but Switch was just one of those people Harry really wanted to get to know.

It's like entering a new classroom with new people and someone just happens to catch your eye. That's what Switch was to Harry. He wanted to get to know her, as well as the others. They were welcoming, even if they were a bit hesitant at first because he was human, but in the end he felt welcomed. That garage full of cars felt more like a home than the Dursley's ever did.

"Well, it's a start," Harry mused as he watched the boys get ready for bed.

"What is?" Neville asked curiously, having overheard Harry's muttering.

"Nothing, just a letter from a friend," Harry said.

"Friend?" Dean asked. "As in girlfriend?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at Dean's own raised ones. "No, as in a friend who's a girl."

"Uh huh. You always get the lucky pickings. Don't tell me you're not interested in _someone?_"

Harry thought about it, really thought about despite Voldemort's little warnings. "No," he answered honestly. "I'm not interested in girls at the moment."

That raised quite a few eyebrows.

"So…" Dean started.

"Are you gay?" Seamus asked suddenly, causing Harry to blink and Ron to look at him in horror.

"What?" Harry started laughing. "No, Seamus, I'm not gay, just not interested." He couldn't stop laughing, even as his eyes started to water from laughing. Getting control of himself, Harry put on a sly face. "Why, Seamus?" he purred. "You interested?" Harry couldn't resist fluttering his eye lashes, causing the other boys to laugh.

"Merlin, no!" Seamus yelled, laughing just as hard as the other boys even though he had only just accused Harry of insanity at the beginning of the year.

Still giggling, the boys retreated to their respective beds. All but Harry, that is.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked.

Harry picked up his bag and a few extra books. "Downstairs. I still have to finish Snape's essay and I haven't even started on Flitwick's theory on summoning charms."

"Don't stay up too late, though. It's hard enough getting up for breakfast," Ron said.

"Right," Harry responded, moving downstairs and sitting in his favorite armchair in front of the still roaring fire.

Seeing a few stragglers still in the Common Room, Harry didn't think it would be wise to try and whisper to Tagger. Instead, he just settled for finishing his half done essay.

The hours ticked away slowly, but that was ok. Harry was used to long nights. One by one the other student's had left for bed. One boy, a first year, had tried to stay up past 2:00, trying to convince his friend that he had insomnia.

Harry smiled at that. The boy had only wanted to stay up late, as all children do. And its not as if you can get insomnia because you wanted it… Silly kid.

Finally, when it was 2:30 and everyone was dead asleep, Harry felt his body twitch. Frowning at the strange occurrence, Harry nearly let out a gasp as his scar felt like it was on fire. Opening his mouth to let out a small scream, Harry was surprised when his voice was muffled.

Harry tried to grab at whatever was on his mouth but his back arched as his scar literally reopened, blood leaking down his face. Some type of black stuff floated out of his scar and around him. Harry realized the same material was what covered his mouth.

Trying to scream for help, Harry felt the dark energy tighten around his mouth as even more energy formed a head in front of Harry.

"Absdmm," Harry tried to say but was still being muzzled. Trying to rip the energy away, Harry inwardly screamed as his scar burned.

"Did you think I had forgotten about you, brat?" Abaddon's copy head asked, red eyes watching Harry intently.

Harry shook his head. How could he have forgotten about the deal he had made with such a creature?

"Good." Smirking, the head blew some black flames into the unlit fireplace before grabbing Harry's shirt and all but throwing him into the fire.

This form of travel was unlike anything Harry had ever felt before. He was twisting and turning like a normal floo ride, but he didn't feel the fire's burn or the ash touching his skin. Energy flowing over him like silk or untouched water.

Harry almost groaned in relief as all the dark energy left his scar, leaving it with only a dull pain instead of the burning sensation.

"That hurt like hell," Harry muttered darkly to the hundred foot form in front of him. He rubbed his scar as he surveyed the dark chamber with the large bars blocking the beast within the cell and all the ancient looking devices and books in the corner.

"I could have dragged you through the entire castle and forest," Abaddon said calmly. "Would you have preferred that?"

"No."

"Then stop complaining, brat."

Harry sighed and rubbed away at the blood traveling down his face. Once cleaned up a bit, Harry regarded Abaddon with curiosity as he sat down. "Well?" he asked patiently.

"Well then," Abaddon said, settling down into a comfortable position so that he could stare down at Harry without hurting his neck. "You remember our deal?"

Harry nodded carefully. "I do."

"Good." Abaddon seemed to ponder something before saying, "You have an interesting scar. I was not aware you were bonded to someone."

"I'm not," Harry said firmly. "That man I told you about earlier, Voldemort, we only have a slight connection."

"A slight connection through the mind," Abaddon said with a sneer. "You're lucky I erased your mind in that dream scape of yours."

Harry blinked. "You're the reason why I couldn't remember anything?"

"Yes."

Abaddon offered no more than that and Harry did not push.

"About your lessons," Abaddon said with a growl, only then just making Harry realize how odd this was to Abaddon as well. After so many years of no contact, it really must be an odd feeling. Harry knew how he felt, having been excluded from most physical and talking activities when he was younger.

Harry didn't say anything, he just waited patiently.

"You will no longer live in that castle."

"What!"

"Quiet, brat!" Abaddon roared. "Be thankful I'm even teaching you."

"Then where will I live?" Harry asked, baring his teeth at the large creature and standing up. "And why can't I live in the castle anymore?"

"In that castle you are protected, cared for and food is given to you without a price. I will not teach some weakling who can't even take o himself."

"I can take care of myself!" Harry shouted, craning his neck to look Abaddon in the face. "I have been taking care of myself my whole life."

"QUIET!" Abaddon roared again, this time actually tossing Harry back a few feet from the force.

Shaking, Harry didn't dare try to stand up, preferring to just sit on the ground and wait for Abaddon to continue.

Narrowed eyes surveyed Harry before Abaddon chose to continue. "You will be living in the forest."

"Why can't I live here?" Harry asked.

"Because the dark energy that covers this place will infect you. You already have some immunity to dark magic but not enough to live in a place like this without going insane. The other reason is because I don't want you living here with me. In the forest you will battle for territory, gather food and learn how to survive."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. It would definitely be a learning experience. "But what about the books I promised you?"

"You will bring it to me," Abaddon said plainly.

"And what about school?" Harry asked carefully. "People will search if they find out I'm missing."

"I know that, brat," Abaddon said impatiently. "What kind of fool do you take me for?" Glaring, Abaddon didn't let Harry speak. "I will teach you how to make a clone."

"A clone?" Harry repeated, unsure if he heard right.

"Yes, brat, a clone. It won't last forever, only twenty hours at most, which means you'll have to make a new one each day. Each time you destroy the clone; all its memories get transferred to you. However, that doesn't not mean you can do everything the clone did. If it had trouble mastering a spell you will too.

Clones are weak as well when physical violence is occurring. Don't let it get as much as a cut. It can handle a few shallow cuts or bruises, but deep or lethal wounds will destroy it. It will have all your memories, looks, everything."

"That sounds amazing," Harry said thoughtfully. "Why don't people use clones nowadays?"

"Because humans have grown weak over the centuries, especially with so much inbreeding. Be lucky I don't smell such a contamination coming from you. The directions and theories have been lost for about four century's as well. I, however, happen to know everything about this little spell."

"Is it hard to do?" Harry asked carefully.

Abaddon glared down at him. "Four century's ago an eight year old could do this because it was one of the most basic spells taught. You won't even be worth my time if you can't master it. Tell me, brat, are you weak?"

Standing up angrily, Harry said quite boldly, "I am not weak." He paused for a moment. "But I am not strong. I promise not to let you down." Showing a little respect couldn't hurt.

"Trying to butter me up won't work, brat," Abaddon snapped. "But you are honest about this. Good."

Harry nodded. A small part of him was unsure if he would be able to handle this, if he would survive in the forest, but Harry squished that small part of him down. That was the weak, eleven year old in him. Harry would never be that person again.

"Get into a meditation stance," Abaddon ordered harshly. Doing as commanded, Harry waited for the next part of the instructions. "Take out your wand and cover the tip in your blood."

"Blood magic?" Harry wondered softly. Nipping his finger with a sharp tooth, Harry covered the tip of his wand with his blood.

"Now think about your body, think of every muscle, scar and visible trait." Harry closed his eyes in thought. He knew every single scar on his body perfectly. "Now think about your memories, everything. While you do this, focus on your magic going through your wand and by your side. You will be creating a copy of you. Focus on a copy of yourself right next to you."

Harry concentrated as hard as he could, his two fore fingers touching the middle of his wand while his thumbs held the bottom while the rest were intertwined with each other.

"Concentrate, concentrate," Tagger whispered, his voice becoming a rhythm in his head.

Going through every memory was a challenge, and Harry was pretty sure if he hadn't started the basics of Occlumency it would have been much harder. Harry felt so utterly alone as he focused on creating a being that would take control of his life. The small eleven year old Harry was trying to come back, question him if he really wanted to give everything up just for some lessons.

Harry squashed that down again. He wouldn't be giving anything up. In a way, if Abaddon was right, he would still be living with Ron and Hermione, even if it was a clone. He didn't care, he needed training and Harry would do anything to survive. He had run off those instincts since he was a child. Nothing would change that, absolutely nothing.

Slowly, so agonizingly slow, Harry felt the warmth of his magic worm its way into his fingers. Sweat trailed down Harry's face as he began to pant, already becoming tired. Was he really so weak that he was already running out of breath?

Pushing more magic into his wand, Harry let out a small gasp of pain as his chest constricted painfully. Loosing concentration, Harry stopped pushing magic into his wand and fell on his back tiredly, still breathing heavily. Harry closed his eyes, wishing he could just sleep for an hour or two.

"Pathetic, brat," Abaddon snapped, making Harry's eyes open.

Trying to get up, Harry only managed to lie on his side and stare up at Abaddon.

"Pathetic," Abaddon repeated. "Just look at all you've accomplished."

Turning his head tiredly, Harry saw a single toe. A _toe. _Was that all he could accomplish? "Dammit," Harry breathed, forcing himself to sit in a meditation form.

"Brat," Abaddon interrupted. "Cancel that pathetic excuse for a clone. Your magic will drain much faster if you have two."

"How do I cancel it?" Harry asked, grateful that his voice didn't show how tired he was, even though his body clearly showed how exhausted he was.

"Focus on your magic and snap it. It's just like canceling a regular spell from your wand. Stop focusing on your magic and release it."

Focusing on his magic, Harry searched for the drain and smiled a bit as he found it. _It really is just like a spell,_ he thought. Focusing, Harry gripped his wand tightly, trying to pump out more magic.

"Stop," Abaddon interrupted. "You're doing it wrong, brat. You are not focusing on a picture. Picture what you look like in your mind, and then give it life. Even you can come up with mind pictures."

Harry scowled at the great beast but closed his eyes quickly, not wanting to get into an argument with Abaddon.

"Concentrate," he whispered. This time he went slow, very slow. He pictured everything in his mind and, instead of doing everything at once, tried to do it piece by piece.

He didn't know how long he had been concentrating for, but by the time Abaddon told him to stop again, his clothes were completely soaked.

"Enough," Abaddon snapped, his voice quite bored. "Your improvement is useless."

Breathing hard, Harry glanced around for his double and could only groan as he saw a foot. _At least it's not a toe, _he thought dully.

"Great," he sighed. "I don't think I can go on…"

"Pathetic," Abaddon said with a yawn. "It seems we'll be practicing this once again tonight."

"Tonight? Harry repeated, lying down tiredly on his back.

"It's already six in the morning," Abaddon said offhandedly. "You were in a meditation stance for hours."

Harry groaned.

"I agree, you are weak."

Harry snapped his eyes open at that. _Bastard,_Harry thought. He'd show him. Harry quickly banished the foot and nipped his finger again, the blood on his wand already gone. Before he could even begin to concentrate, a dark energy rammed into him.

"What was that for?" Harry demanded angrily, holding his side.

"We are out of time, brat. You are already drained and are no longer useful. I am sending you back to your bed." Abaddon sneered at him. "What a useless pupil."

"Bas—" Harry didn't get a chance to finish as Abaddon breathed black fire at him, startling him so badly that he almost cracked his wand in two from the pressure. Like the first time when traveling through Abaddon's method, it felt like swimming through smooth, untouched water.

When the journey was over, and Harry could open his eyes from the slightly burning flames, Harry was lying back in his bed. He was breathing heavily, clothes sticking uncomfortably to him and his possessions by his feet.

"I hate him," Harry whispered pitifully before dragging his sore body into the baths.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Harry, are you ok?" Neville asked, a little concerned by the dark circles under Harry's eyes.

Harry glanced at Neville as he got to work with planting his seeds. "I'm alright. Just didn't sleep that well."

"What time did you go to bed?" Neville asked, planting his own seeds.

Harry shrugged. "I dunno. All I can say is that I was the last to go to bed." Harry chuckled. "There are quite a few night owls among the younger years."

Neville gave his own grin. "Kinda weird seeing all the first years now that we're older. It's hard to imagine we were that small. Well… except for you."

"Hey!" Harry replied indignantly. "I've gotten much taller!" He scowled mock playfully at Neville, pleased to see the timid boy he had known since first year wasn't so shy anymore.

"Right, I didn't mean anything by it," Neville said.

Harry frowned at his tone. Perhaps Neville still hadn't gotten over his timid nature. "I know, Nev. So when do you think our plants should fully develop?"

"Well, mine should start sprouting within a week, two at the most. Two months should be when it's fully grown."

"Cool," Harry breathed, watching Neville add just a few drops of water onto his seed. "What about mine? I know it never opens except at night when the moon is out, but shouldn't it be fully grown till a full moon, right?" Harry asked, looking at his seeds that would turn into black roses.

"That's a possibility," Neville agreed. "I've never worked with black roses before but since their power reacts on a full moon, in a months time or a little more it should be fully grown."

"That would be neat to see," Harry said, finishing up with his planting just as soon as Professor Sprout passed, giving the two boys a once over. Harry offered a smile to the professor but didn't receive anything in return. Fingers twitching, Harry felt his annoyance grow.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Harry, did you get enough sleep last night?" Hermione asked softly at lunch, watching her friend nibble on a sandwich and soup.

"No," Harry said honestly, causing Hermione to blink.

Surprised that Harry didn't lie and tell her he was ok, she simply said, "Well, make sure you get enough sleep in the future, otherwise you won't be able to focus in class."

Harry stared at her carefully, green eyes incredibly intense. "Right," he said softly, getting up.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"A walk," he muttered, still eyeing her full form. "Free period so I think I'll just wander."

"Alright then. I'll see you Charms."

Harry smiled at her and walked out of the Great Hall, allowing Tagger to rest softly on his shoulder.

"You're going to miss them pretty bad, aren't you?" Tagger asked.

"Very much," Harry said tiredly. "But I know it's the best thing for me, especially since I know it won't be forever. Right now I just feel drained."

"Understandable," Tagger said, lifting off of Harry. "But maybe you should find a place to practice, prove Abaddon that you aren't weak."

Harry eyed the pale dragon and waited as a small group of second year Slytherin's passes him. "Where on earth could I practice in this place?"

Tagger thought about it for a moment. "The eleves! They should know this place better than anyone!"

Harry grinned at Tagger. "What an oddly smart idea, Tagger."

"Hey! I'm plenty smart."

"Uh huh," Harry said innocently," easily moving toward the painting of fruit, energy somehow coming back.

He tickled the pear, feeling amused as it giggled before showing a door. He opened it quickly, eager to get inside lest someone saw him as they rounded a corner or something.

"Harry Potter Sir!" a high pitched voice screamed before a little something ran smack dab into Harry's midsection. The small house elf frowned. "Sirs chest feels incredibly hard and not normal. Is sirs ok?"

"Just some protection," Harry told the elf truthfully, not planning on going into length about his dragon scales. "Dobby, I need a favor."

Dobby nodded vigorously, eyes wide and happy.

"Do you know of any place that I can use in private that nobody knows about or could possibly interrupt me?"

Harry eyed the thinking elf. "I may knows of one place, sir. It is called the Coming and Go Room, or also known as the Room of Requirements."

"What does it do?"

"It can give sir anything he wishes for!" Dobby said excitedly. Dobby quickly explained how to activate the Room of Requirements, making Harry's tired smile grow larger.

"Perfect," Harry said, thinking on this. "And are you sure not many, perhaps even none other than the house elves, know?"

"I swears it, sir."

"Good."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The following night Harry didn't have a chance to go search for the Room of Requirements. He had closed his curtains around his bed, ready to go into his trunk, when the Abaddon copy came out of his scar and dragged him through the black vortex. Immediately, after a few harsh words between the two, Harry got back to trying to make a clone.

"Can you do nothing right?!" Abaddon roared, pushing Harry back a bit from the force. "All you can manage is one measly toe?"

Harry looked down at his toe and banished it, getting back into his position.

"It's a wonder this Voldemort went through so much trouble to own you," Abaddon continued, lying on his side lazily. "Such a weak creature. What possible use could you be?"

Harry gritted his teeth. "Shut up," he growled, concentrating.

"Can hardly even defend himself against the simplest creatures of the forest," Abaddon continued. "Voldemort obviously doesn't need you for your skills, as little as you might have."

Harry was shaking. "Shut up!" he shouted, practically foaming at the mouth.

"Now why is it that a Dark Lord wants you?" Abaddon sneered down at Harry.

"Don't you dare," Harry hissed, fangs biting into his gums.

"Ah, yes," Abaddon said with relish, face lit up into a malicious grin. "He wants you as nothing more than a—"

"SHUT UP!" Harry roared, finally jumping to his feet and panting hard. What surprised him, however, was that he wasn't the only one to scream it. Hesitantly, Harry looked to his right and gapped at the sight of… well, himself.

His double blinked back. "Well," the clone said softly, "I guess it worked."

"Pet," Abaddon purred, causing the two to flinch and snarl at him.

"Don't call me that!" they yelled.

"QUIET!" Abaddon roared, sending dark energy to cut the double in half.

Harry watched his double slowly fade away into nothing, leaving no blood or shredded clothing.

"What was that for?" Harry demanded, glaring at the giant.

"For building up your anger, thus building up your energy," Abaddon told him patiently. "Did you not feel that burst of magic? Don't snap at me, just think about."

Eyes narrowed, Harry thought about, rubbing a hand over his wand. "I felt a huge surge of power," he finally muttered.

"The only times beings are at their strongest is when they are protecting someone dear to them or when they are truly angry." Abaddon peered down at Harry. "Focus on that blast of magic and make another clone."

Concentrating, Harry let his magic guide him and felt something off at his side. He glanced over to his right, thinking he'd see another clone.

It was a toe.

"You are truly an enigma, brat."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A full five days passed in similarity, and Harry never had the chance to search for the room Dobby told him about. He wondered if it would have made a difference but didn't dwell on it.

"So what do you think of his teaching skills?" Kilian asked, lounging next to him on the grass.

It was the first time Kilian had ventured out of the Forbidden Forest and had made sure to talk to Harry close enough for the adults to know they weren't going to run off together.

"He's harsh," Harry told her. "But I'm learning something that could and will most likely save my life."

Kilian nodded, pausing to glare at a few students who passed and even had the audacity to point at the two.

"I'm to be living in the Forbidden Forest," Harry told her quietly, plucking out some grass.

Kilian stared at him. "Do you think you can handle it?"

"Do you?" Harry asked back.

"Well, you did manage to survive the last time, but that wasn't even a full week. Do you even know how to build a home near a food source and well away from other territory?"

"No," Harry said dully. "And I'm forbidden to have my wand."

"You'll be dead within a day."

"Hey!"

"Do think logically," Kilian said coolly. "You have neither experience nor any idea of where land marks are in the Dark Forest."

"Dark Forest?"

"You call it the Forbidden Forest."

"Ah." Harry stared at the forest thoughtfully.

"Was I close to the heart of the forest?"

Kilian snorted and turned to look at Harry. "What you were in wasn't even the edge. The forest is longer than it looks, especially when flying overhead. Inside, that's where its true length is. The heart is filled with creatures that are truly dark. And I'm not talking about stupid prints like Werewolves.

"In the heart, that's where creatures who have touched hell but have come back reside. The forest is alive, Harry," Kilian said seriously. "It blocks beings out if it wants to but can also lead you somewhere. But when you get closer to the heart, even the weeds are darker than this Dark Lord of yours. The trees attack with more viciousness than a Whomping Willow but do not allow the sinned creatures out."

Harry tapped his fingers together. He frowned in thought before speaking, his voice quite bold. "I'll do whatever I have to," he told her. "Abaddon's lessons will help rid myself of these things." He gestures to his hidden manacles. "Even if I get torn and beaten, I won't give up on anything. I'll get strong."

"Then I offer you only this," Kilian said, standing up and preparing to gallop away. "Although the trees may push or pull, they may provide cover in the most curious of ways."

Harry watched her go, tuning out the students around him as they asked him why he was with a centaur.

"Well, that doesn't help."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Well?"

Harry looked up at Abaddon, wiping sweat off his brow. "Well?" Harry asked back.

"Are you going to practice or not?"

Harry looked down and took a deep breath. "In a moment. I want to think this out first."

He sat down in a meditative position, thinking deeply.

"This isn't working," Tagger whispered. "We need that burst of magic again."

_But how? _Harry wondered, eyes snapping open. He took a deep breath and stood up, stretching until all his joints cracked. He tapped his foot on the ground and shook himself, somehow feeling a bit better.

"I feel better," Harry said aloud, not caring if Abaddon didn't answer. He frowned. "I feel better," he repeated. Harry looked up in confusion. "My clone didn't appear until I stood up, did it?"

Abaddon smirked. "You're finally realizing it, brat."

"Magic," Harry started softly, "doesn't work as well unless you stand up, right?"

"On the contrary," Abaddon disagreed. "Spells can work standing up or sitting down. Now what we're doing, Invocation, demands you to stand."

"Why?"

"Because your core is in your very center and must have straight escape routes. It cannot be bent or it will fail. Of course, this only applies to beginners."

"What is Invocation?" Harry asked.

"It is when the caster brings his or her magic out of the body and creates it into matter. Soon, you will even be able to create your own food, although I do not advise it since magic good does not have enough nutrients to support the body. Now that you know this, create a clone."

Warily, Harry stood up straight and put his bloodied fingers over his wand and concentrated. It wasn't noticeable, but he could tell his magic was working much easier. Opening his eyes, Harry grinned at his clone who grinned back in accomplishment.

"Wipe that smirk off your face," Abaddon spat. "It took you a full week to create that clone." The clone scowled up at Abaddon. "Get rid of him and sit down."

Harry did as he was told and sat down, staring up at Abaddon.

Abaddon considered Harry for a few moments. "The Manacles of Reijuu," he started softly, "were not made for the purpose of slavery."

Harry listened attentively, curious as to what Abaddon would say.

"Their purpose was for humiliation," Abaddon went on coldly, red eyes hateful. "To be able to flaunt your enemy to the public, give any order and know it would be done, that was the purpose of the manacles." Abaddon growled dangerously.

"Did… did you know who was under the manacles personally?" Harry asked.

Red eyes snapped to Harry's. "They say she was the best hunter in all of Japan just a little over one thousand years ago," Abaddon said softly. "They say she could take on any demon without breaking a sweat, no matter how big or small. They say she was both beautiful in her human and dragon form."

Harry noted Abaddon kept saying 'they' but didn't say anything.

"She was the protector of Japan, both magical and non-magical, and not once did she betray Japan in any way." Abaddon paused for a moment. "But a new man came into the picture, and he became Emperor of all of Japan. He was a greedy little man, being no older than fifty. Once that man came to power the magical and non-magical world of Japan separated, causing much distress in its wake.

"Fu-Kane was the man's name and I'll tell you this, brat," Abaddon said, eyeing Harry. "He was no leader; he was a dictator, much like your Dark Lord. He demanded absolute obedience." Abaddon paused again. "But she was no servant, she just was."

Harry blinked at that. "You mean like a free spirit?" Harry asked, interrupting Abaddon.

"What?"

"A free spirit," Harry repeated. "You said she just was. Do you mean just a being that didn't care about rules and just lived life?"

Abaddon eyed Harry with a new interest. "In some ways she was like you. She disregarded rules, cared deeply for others and trained as hard as she could everyday of her life. She was, as they say, one of a kind." Abaddon stopped for a moment.

"We are off track. The manacles were created by Fu-Kane in an attempt to bind the protector to him. He was a man of war and would need a weapon." Abaddon grimaced, white fangs bared. "But he didn't want her as a mindless zombie. She had been known for embarrassing him in the most disrespectful ways."

"Like what?" Harry asked.

"Never you mind, brat." Abaddon growled a little before settling. "Despite being a greedy idiot, the man still had power, more than your Dumbledore. Don't look so surprised, brat. Wizards today are weak because they do not force themselves, do no have fit bodies and let prejudice blind them.

"And so Fu-Kane created the manacles. It took him a full year, but he had pure gold and vast knowledge of runes and slave magic."

"Slave magic?"

"Magic used to bind slaves so they can't run away, give away their masters secret or other forms of betrayal."

"But why gold? What's so important about it?" Harry lifted his wrist up to his face. "Aren't there usually other chemicals mixed in to keep it from having much magical property?"

"In some cases that would be true," Abaddon said tiredly. "But you forget this was over a thousand years ago. What Fu-Kane used was _pure _gold, the finest form of magical item. Silver is incredibly powerful if done right, but gold, pure gold, is an unimaginable device if used correctly by a very powerful being.

"And so the manacles were made," Abaddon said, continuing with his story. "Fu-Kane knew he would have no way of getting the manacles on her." Abaddon fell silent, visibly shaking with pure rage. "She was betrayed," Abaddon spat, "by her mate."

Harry gasped, his hand forming a fist. How could a mate ever do that to his lover?

"Disgusting filth, so ready to add treasure to his already vast hoard," Abaddon said. "She was tricked, but who could blame her? In her weakest form, her human form, was she finally trapped. That was the only way the manacles could be put on, but once they were on they could grow or shrink when she transformed." Abaddon slammed his massive tail on the ground, shaking the earth for a moment.

Harry didn't say anything, knowing this must hurt the great dragon. He rubbed the manacle with sorrow.

"It was such fun for the Emperor to have control of his newest servant, the Great Rising Sun as they called her, for that was how she was always illuminated. She could do nothing but stare with hate filled eyes as each command was given, each order thrown out. And so Fu-Kane was satisfied as he destroyed his enemies and had his greatest enemy under his command."

"But?" Harry pressed.

"Be patient, brat." Abaddon breathed out deeply. "She learned to fight the manacles, her will power too strong. It wasn't obvious at first, but she learned to turn orders around, see different sides of it that allowed her to break the order despite the manacle."

"But Fu-Kane noticed, didn't he?" Harry asked softly.

"Of course, brat," Abaddon said harshly. "And that was how the collar was made. The collar, once on, destroys your very soul. You are locked away forever, still able to watch, but now you can't even move your mouth or blink an eye. You are just a watcher. The body still acts under orders, perhaps better than before, but that is because there is no will to fight."

Harry rubbed his neck. "There's no way to break the manacles?"

"The manacles, yes. The collar you cannot."

Harry felt his shoulders slump. "How do I fight these manacles then?"

"Will power," Abaddon said simply. "Or, more specifically, by the mind."

They were silent for a few moments.

"I have no idea what you mean."

"In time you will."

"Abaddon?"

"What, brat?"

"What was her name?"

"Her name was… Kayin, or also known as The Rising Sun."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next day at breakfast Harry could only nibble on some fruit. His mind was too fuzzy with what Abaddon had told him. Not to mention he would be living in the forest starting tonight. He wasn't allowed any clothes other than the ones he had on, no shoes, and no wand.

His clone would be using his wand, which made sense, but made Harry all the more nervous. He was allowed only the clothes on his back and the weapons he could carry. Of course, he still needed to bring a few certain things specifically for Abaddon. It was a rather frightening thought.

"Hello, Harry," Hermione greeted, frowning just a bit at his tired face.

"Hey, Hermione," Harry returned, popping in some kiwi into his mouth.

"Hey, guys," Ron said as he came up to them with a huge yawn.

The two greeted him back.

Harry didn't listen to the conversations around the table as he forced himself to eat more food, knowing he would need it. As he ate, he noticed a white among the gray and brown owls and smiled.

Hedwig hooted up at him and extended her leg, a few letters tied to. "Thanks, girl," Harry said, rubbing her wing. He opened the first one curiously.

_Hey Stray,_

_The garage is doing fine. Hop would love some of those you mentioned. She's been hopping about._

Harry paused in his reading to roll his eyes at the lame joke.

_Jay and Gadget are cool. We've all been working on a lot of cars lately. Jack's pretty busy too. Business has lifted pretty high, which is good since we get no buyers in our little store in Knockturn except for the strange little boy who's breaking his mama's rules. Anyway, how've you been?_

_Ash_

Harry folded the letter and pocketed it before opening the second one.

_Ash told me you were writing about how I've been. I'm fine. Nothing more, nothing less. _

_Switch_

Harry blinked at the incredibly short letter but pocketed it as well. He turned to Hedwig. "Make sure you're up in the Owlery, I need to deliver a message later."

Hedwig hooted back, showing that she understood and made off with some of Dean's ham, much to the boys annoyance. Harry smiled at the boys plight but just shrugged it off, already thinking of tonight.

He glanced up at the owls, disappointment flowing through him as he saw no sonic owl.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The day ran by rather smoothly. He missed DADA, not that Umbridge really cared. Harry could drop dead for all she cared and acted like he didn't exist if they passed in the hallways. Harry couldn't say he minded.

He had wrote a few quick letters to Hedwig immediately after dinner and made sure to give her and Padfoot the owl extra attention. They both preened under the attention and seemed to know something was amiss with him but he soothed them with endearing words before making his way back to his dormitory and into his trunk.

And that's where he stayed for the rest of the night. He spent the whole time reading, trying to absorb as much knowledge as possible. He only managed to make it through one book from Diagon Alley and half way through one in Knockturn Alley but hoped the knowledge would remain. They were about Ancient Runes, so hopefully they could be used in the forest.

Harry glanced at his pocket watch, noticing it was almost midnight. He smiled grimly as he held the black backpack he had purchased during the summer. Abaddon hadn't wanted him to bring much. Mostly just his weapons and his watch so he knew when to return to the castle to make a new clone. Abaddon wouldn't, however, even allow an extra pair of clothes.

Harry made a face at the though of how smelly he would become but ignored the thought, thinking about what he had brought. Basically just his poison dagger and shurikens from Knockturn. He also had the silver knife from the summer. A rather thick book full of dark spells was also with him. He planned on giving it to Abaddon since he had yet to give the dragon any books.

He also had his sketchbook. Harry knew it might be an extra load, no matter how light, but he couldn't leave it. The items to make a new wand was also in his bag. Abaddon had demanded he bring it since he needed a wand to learn spells.

Checking his watch again, Harry realized it had just turned Midnight. "Finally," Harry muttered, creating a clone quickly.

The clone grinned at Harry, taking his wand from him. As the piece of wood left Harry's hand, he couldn't help but feel a little incomplete. He sighed as a minute ticked by, signaling it was 12:01. Exactly on time, Harry felt Abaddon break through his scar and dragging him through the dark portal. And as Harry disappeared from the castle, he knew life was about to get much worse for him.

Bring it on.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I hope you people will be satisfied with this chapter since its thirty pages, though I do feel a bit bad since nothing really happened. Plenty of action next time! Don't worry. Also, I don't think I have a beta anymore since I sent him/her a copy of this and didn't receive it back… so yea. I don't think I'll be having a beta.


	16. In the Forest

I promised a lot of action this chapter and I'll try to do as much as I can to the best of my abilities. Hope you lot enjoy this chapter either way.

Also, as much as I enjoy good reviews and criticism (well constructed,) I would like to note that flames will be used to cook marshmallows. From a certain 'Blah' I would like to point out that no one is forcing you to read this story. My idea was based around the idea of Harry becoming a dragon. It says so in the summary, so unless you are too stupid or oblivious to notice that little tid bit, don't write a review telling me you don't like that little fact of the story.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The first thing Harry managed to do once the dark, silk like magic released him was fall to the ground with an undignified grunt. He picked himself off the dusty floor; wishing magical travel wasn't always so horrible.

"At last," Abaddon breathed. "At last, it is time to see if you're worth it."

Harry gazed up at Abaddon calmly.

"Empty that bag of yours," Abaddon commanded.

Harry did so, already expecting this. He put out the wand tools and book on how to make a weapon that fits you off to the side. His weapons lay in front of him, as well as the book he planned on giving Abaddon.

"You can leave that poison dagger behind, brat," Abaddon spat. "I can't have you cheating."

Harry reluctantly pushed the knife away. Money wasted, he thought bitterly.

"Those other weapons are fine. Do you have the wand kit and guide to make a personal weapon?"

Harry pointed to the items in front of him. "They're right here."

"Good." Abaddon peered down at the other items. "A sketchbook will do you no good. Leave it."

This time Harry shook his head. "I want it," he told the beast firmly.

"Extra weight, brat," Abaddon told him. "Which reminds me, add another level to those gravity rings of yours."

"Annoying git," Harry grumbled quietly, adding an extra level and almost hunching over from the sudden weight. Acting as if the weight didn't bother him at all, Harry reached down and picked up the extra book he brought.

"No books from your little safe haven to help you," Abaddon said, sounding bored and a bit impatient.

Harry straightened up, despite it being a little harder than necessary, and said, "I didn't bring this for me. It was part of our deal, right? Me to bring a book to you in exchange for your lessons."

Abaddon didn't say anything, apparently a little surprised that Harry remembered his end of the bargain. Dark wisps of magic took the book gently from his hands, bringing into the dark cage Abaddon resided in.

"Don't forget my meat," Abaddon told him after a tense pause, making Harry grin.

"Of course."

"Now pack up and get on your feet, I have something I need to tell you before you go die or find a place to live."

Harry made a face at the lack of faith his teacher had in him but remained silent.

"Take off those illusions on the manacles."

"What!"

"Now!" Abaddon roared, causing the room to shake as he slammed his massive tail on the ground. "Charms and illusions take up magic. You already have a clone, do not drain yourself until you have enough magic," Abaddon hissed. "In the Dark Forest, no creature will care what you wear, so don't be such coward when other creatures see what you wear. Most will be _naked_." Abaddon narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure you can handle that?"

Harry scowled, a little more than embarrassed. "Yes," he said tensely.

Abaddon sneered. "Do not forget you will need to run to your castle and back each night. If you were a creature of this forest, you would make the journey in two hours at a full run. However, you are not a creature of this forest and therefore lack any type of fitness for this area; despite your little walk-ins with the Centaur.

"Do not find a pitiful cave full of disease or some unknown beast and then come back to me telling me you found a home. I will look into your mind, brat, which will start our basics on mind magic."

"Will this help me sleep?" Harry asked hopefully.

"It all depends on your little connection with your master."

"He is not my master," Harry said with a deathly calm, rage almost making him shake.

Abaddon stared at him for a moment. "Remember that."

"Remember wh—?"

"Get out," Abaddon interrupted.

"But—"

"Get out!"

Harry scrambled toward the stairs, dodging a dark black energy as it made a swipe for his head.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It isn't that odd being a clone, you know. Oh yes, it is actually quite nice. Being alive but not really existing is a rather strange feeling. It leaves you far more open minded than the real you. Memories that were put away for future use have made their way out again.

Clone Harry smiled as he watched his creator disappear with a yelp as black fire surrounded him. Despite his creator being, well, him, he couldn't help but think how pitiful he was. Still, with such a clear mind as his, the clone new, without a doubt, his creator would become strong, just as he would with each new 'remake.'

With only twenty-four hours to live, the clone had a fair few ideas on what to do. Really, all he was ordered to do was act normal at school and read the books in the creator's library… which was also his.

Ok, so maybe being a clone could be a bit confusing at first, but that was ok. Clone Harry figured that when he would be remade at least two more times, he would have a bit more understanding of what would be needed to be done for the real Harry's benefit.

Studying would no doubt help, but what should he study? Spells would be useless until the original could get his hands on a wand.

…or so the creator had said.

Clone Harry grinned; twirling the creator's… his wand in his hand. But it would still be knowledge. However, there was still that nagging feeling that tugged at the clone. Looking around, the clone spotted several letters from Gringotts.

"Ah, that's what it is," the clone said, taking the letter's in his hand.

It would be time to start learning about business, and Clone Harry knew just who could help him.

"Blaise Zabini," Clone Harry muttered, looking through each letter carefully before taking out some paper and pencils, preferring them over parchment and messy quills ad ink.

The clone, however, paused. This would be helping the creator, but his instinct to focus on what his creator needed most nagged at him. This… this could wait.

"But what do I need to do?" the clone growled out angrily, wishing he had been given more specific orders.

Stalking around the room, Clone Harry spied P the potions book. It hit Clone Harry that the creator had several vials of healing potions in the inside pockets of his pants without realizing it. The clone had to laugh. Despite him realizing it and knowing the creator would soon realize it once the clone's memories had been transferred, the clone still knew, without a doubt, the creator would forget about them. It was in his nature.

"So potions first?" Clone Harry asked out loud, as if asking for permission.

That nagging feeling was still there.

"Second?"

The nagging feeling wasn't so bad now.

Clone Harry grinned and began his search of the room once more, looking over the covers of the various books the creator… he had. There were so many, far too many on so many subjects.

"What would I need if I was out there, all alone?" the clone mused before the light smile on his face became a full out grin. "Protection," he whispered silkily, pulling out several Ancient Runes books on defense, offence and warding.

Taking care on balancing the five heavy books, Clone Harry made his way into the potion's room, knowing that there were several still being brewed and some new ones that would be needed to be brewed that night.

Clone Harry sighed. Honestly, leaving a bunch of unfinished potions all alone, what was the creator thinking?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Up in the tallest tower, a weasel like figure stared out and into the vast forest. Four wings twitched in anticipation. The energy… it was coming.

The creature gave a low guttural growl as Fawkes the Phoenix flew silently toward him, an amused look on his feathery face.

As soon as the majestic phoenix landed, a snowy owl landed on the other side of the creature's side. Hedwig hooted quietly in greeting.

The others nodded back before turning out to stare into the forest. The energy, such a dark energy, was making its way through the trees and roots. It would be coming, but not for a very long time. All they could now was wait and lead the humans inside the castle astray, knowing that everything would be ruined if wizards or the Ministry tried to take over the forest.

Fawkes would keep the Headmaster busy, making sure all his little instruments didn't work in some specific areas.

Hedwig, despite needing to raise her baby all on her own, would seek out the animals of the forest, not the actual beings. They would need to be alerted of the incoming danger within the next two years and would need to take advantage of this brief peace.

The first creature would do nothing. He would merely watch, knowing his time to act would not be until before the New Year.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry ducked under a low and very spiky branch, trying to make as little sound as possible. A loud crunching sound from the twig he just stepped on told him he had failed. Sighing, Harry took his time getting around the spiked tree and fallen branches and leaves, hoping he didn't alert an enemy he was around.

A full hour of walking hadn't done anything for Harry. He could barely remember the road back to Abaddon's, despite trying to go in a straight line.

"Why don't you try climbing to the top of tree like last time and look around?" Tagger suggested, looking far too much amused for Harry's liking.

"And what if something's living in it?" Harry pointed out.

Tagger rolled his eyes. "Learn to smell! You need to learn to smell different scents and know that not every tree is a home. Why don't you try that one?" Tagger pointed to a tree with hundreds of branches that started from the trunk all the way to the top. The best thing about this tree was that it had no leaves, leaving it quite bare and open for climbing.

"Weird looking tree," Harry noted, walking over to it carefully. He had every right to be cautious, especially since was the only bare tree in the whole forest… that he had seen, at least.

"Well?" Tagger asked impatiently.

"Wait a minute," Harry snapped. "There's something weird about this tree. Why should this one be bare while the others have only lost a few leaves?"

"This is a magical forest, Harry."

"Exactly."

Quickly running over to a different tree, Harry broke off a twig (after inspecting it, of course) and brought it back to the bare tree. Tossing the branch against the tree, Tagger and Harry watched in amazement as the piece of wood was suddenly surrounded by ice. They watched it fall to the ground and shatter into hundreds of pieces.

"Told you something was wrong with it," Harry told the small dragon.

"One mistake," Tagger groaned.

"That could cost us our lives," Harry said seriously.

Tagger had nothing to say to that as they continued walking, making sure to leave some very odd looking plants alone. However, there was one incident where a cactus with a mouth starting chasing them before its roots were almost pulled out of the ground. It had left with a disgruntled whine but otherwise left Harry alone as he made his way in the opposite direction.

"This place is insane," Harry groaned, pulling out several thorns that a flower had actually spat at him.

"Hope those aren't poisonous," Tagger said thoughtfully.

Harry sniffed the bleeding holes on his arm and sucked up some blood, spitting it out after a moment. "I don't taste anything weird."

"That's lucky."

"Got that right."

"Do you want to try the tree thing again?"

"Sure. As long as it's a tree that's normal. Or as normal as you can get in here." Harry moved around several trees carefully, testing them out before actually deciding on one specific tree.

"Wait," Tagger said before Harry could actually touch the first branch. "Maybe you should transform all the way?" Tagger offered. "I mean, all you did was transform your feet."

Harry looked down at his clawed feet. His bare, human feet would have been torn up long before now if he hadn't transformed them. "Good idea," Harry told Tagger before transforming completely.

He flexed his wings, spreading them out fully before flapping them for a full minute. Other than dirt and leaves going flying, nothing else happened, leaving a disappointed Harry. If only he could fly…

"Don't think about that now," Tagger said seriously, urging Harry up the tree.

"You're right; I have more important things to worry about." Without any further urging, Harry pulled himself up the tree, looking through the thick branches for any sign of life that could rip him to pieces.

It only took a few minutes to get to the top of the large tree, his clawed feet and hands making it quite easy to climb much like a cat would. At the top Harry was met with the same sight as before. The castle, in all its large form, stood proudly to Harry's right but still looked quite far away for any walker.

Everywhere else was just trees. He could spot the lake in the far distance if he stood on his toes, and he noticed a few small rivers a fair distance away.

"We need to head towards the river," Harry stated, coming to his decision.

"That might be were a lot of other beasts live," Tagger pointed out.

"I'll risk it," Harry said boldly. "I can't live without water."

"Don't you have your flask with you?"

Blinking, Harry searched his backpack for it and pulled it out, having completely forgotten about it. Harry stood still for a moment, thinking hard.

"We'll still head for the river," he said at last. "I'll need it to survive, despite having this flask."

"What will you need it for?" Tagger questioned.

"Bathing," Harry answered simply, causing Tagger to snort. "And other means of survival," Harry said, ignoring the dragon, as he swung his tail back and forth hypnotically.

Looking back at the ground, Harry spread his wings and took a deep breath before jumping, gliding to the ground slowly. Since the trees were so close together and the branches were so long, Harry never really reached the ground. Instead, he landed on another tree. Repeating the process, Harry jumped from branch to branch, finding this much easier than walking on the ground.

Actually enjoying this little game of jumping from tree to tree, Harry almost fell to the ground as a loud growl startled him. Since he wasn't paying attention, Harry had jumped right into some kind of animal's way.

Backing away softly, Harry saw some type of giant panther. The only problem was that it had two heads and glowing yellow eyes that glared at him. Sharpened claws scratched at the tree and snarling mouths showed large, sharp teeth as the two headed panther made its way towards Harry.

It stopped, a mere five feet away from each other. Harry didn't dare make a sound, his entire body tense as he was prepared to either fight or run. Being high up in the trees didn't exactly give Harry any type of advantage, and Harry doubted the monster panther would be as weak as he was in the trees. In fact, the panther most likely had an advantage.

The two stared at each other warily, and Harry was sure the panther had never seen anything like him before. Good, this gave him an advantage.

"RAWR!" the panther screeched, lunging at Harry.

…or maybe not.

"Jump! Get away! Run!" Tagger screamed at Harry.

"Will you shut up!" Harry snarled, trying to roll out of the way of the large paws, only managing to fall off the branch onto another one.

The panther swiped at Harry from up above, managing to scratch his wings and causing him to scream. The two heads snapped at Harry's head, one missing as Harry jumped away while the other head managed to nick his tail.

"Bastards," Harry snarled, jumping off the branches and finally onto the ground where the two headed panther landed elegantly in front of him.

The two heads growled loudly, scaring a few birds and odd looking flying animals away from some of the trees.

"Harry," Tagger hissed. "You have teeth and claws too! Not to mention a dragon's growl. I want to hear you growl! Just practice like we did at your house."

"A little busy here!" Harry yelled, running and jumping against trees as the panther continued to chase him.

"Then use the stinking knife!" Tagger said in exasperation.

"Does it look like I can grab something out my bag at the moment?" Harry demanded as he took a hard swipe to the side, sending some blood and even one scale flying. "Ah, screw it!" Harry roared just as the panther managed to pin him down and roar in his face. His eyes looking rather mad, Harry reach up and opened his mouth as wide as possible, showing off his own rows of sharp teeth and managed to bite the left head exactly over the small jaw and over the eyes.

The two yowled wildly, now wrestling with Harry to get him off. Harry only bit down harder, tasting the tangy taste of blood in his mouth and some other type of liquid. He fought the urge to let go and gag, determined to beat this monster.

The two wrestled for the majority of five minutes, the right head snapping at Harry while he continued to keep his jaw locked on. After one particular bit to Harry's arm, Harry clenched his teeth even tighter as a reaction to the pain and heard a snap.

Releasing his mouth quickly and being pushed away roughly, Harry scrambled away from the creature, his face lit up in horror as he saw the damage his teeth had done. The left head was yowling pitifully, blood pouring all over its head. The nose was ripped up and Harry could see some missing whiskers. But that wasn't what freaked Harry out. Harry had bitten the eyes, now leaving two gapping holes in their place.

Harry gagged as he spat out the blood in his mouth. He kept going, even when the taste of blood no longer resided in his mouth. "Oh my gosh," Harry groaned, tensing as the right head snarled at Harry, torn between caring for the left head or attack Harry.

Without thinking, Harry quickly grabbed the knife in his bag, holding up and pointed directly at the panther. The right head stopped growling, soon leaving the forest rather quiet, despite the left heads whines and the growls and calls of other night creatures.

The right head glanced at the knife, leading Harry to believe this creature was a lot smarter than he had originally thought. Another glance at his second head was all it took for the right head to take command and leave Harry alone.

Watching the feline run off and out into the darkness in a matter f seconds left Harry out of breath and a little jealous, wishing he could run off like that just as silently and elegantly. He took a deep breath; still keep a tight hold on the knife at his side.

"Come on, Harry," Tagger urged. "You need to keep moving."

Harry got control of his breathing. "I know." Harry sighed, running a hand down his side and pulled out an odd looking scale that had been bent painfully. He winced as it came out, but still let out a little his of relief as it didn't sting as bad as before. Still keeping the knife firmly in his hand, Harry eyed his surroundings cautiously, about to move on, but another growl to his right alerted Harry that another creature had come to challenge Harry.

A large dire wolf came out of the bushes, sapphire eyes trained on Harry, obviously attracted by the blood. Harry couldn't help but groan as he raised his knife once more.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"You are not what I want," Clone Harry murmured, still twirling the creators wand in his hand, feeling some sense of power as he levitated potion ingredients and vials back in their proper place without a thought.

He had been looking over Ancient Runes for several hours now. None had been any help and just taught him how to count or write letters. As interesting as it was, it wasn't what Harry wanted.

Clicking his tongue distractedly, the clone browsed through the first book until he got to the middle, eyes alighting as he finally found what he wanted.

_There were originally twenty-four ancient rune languages before runes were soon split up, thus making it impossible to count the true number of languages. Runes are more than just scrabbles written in stone or trees, but it is earth working its magic. Like words used in spells, carved runes help the earth perform the needed spell, ritual, ect. Be wary of what runes to use together, for it can be disastrous if there were to be a battle among runes that do not go together. Just as water and fire do not work together, some runes may not be compatible with one another._

_However, if a third rune is added to stabilize the second, it is possible to overcome the natural dislike and have them work together. Most rituals are in need of these balances, as they are called, to chain the reaction, thus permitting the ritual or spell to work. Below is a list of runes for beginning rituals, such as faster learning capabilities, stronger endurance…_

Clone Harry looked down the list, knowing full well this was _exactly _what he needed. The fact that he was created to help with what his creator needed most made his mind absolutely clear, allowing no stray thoughts to interrupt him. Studying will be much easier… unless the creator didn't use this information.

"He will, because I know I would," Clone Harry said to the room, the mysterious egg in his lap.

He hoped body heat would make the egg hatch faster.

"I wonder if a rune would help you hatch faster," the clone mused, taking a piece of paper and drawing the rune for 'heat' or 'warmth.' Putting the paper on top of the egg, the clone allowed some of the magic given to him to be sucked into the rune.

The rune glowed for a moment, telling Clone Harry it had worked. Putting the egg back into the bundle it had been in, Clone Harry went back to writing down as many runes as possible before 7:00. A quick _tempus _told him he had five hours left. Allowing a small grin to form, Clone Harry went back to work.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry only had a second to look into the sapphire eyes of the large wolf before it leaped at him with such amazing speed Harry hadn't even been aware it had moved. His knife had only come up just in time, not that it helped since the wolf had leapt right past him.

Harry spun around quickly, jaw dropped as he saw the wolf munch on the head of the largest centipede he had ever seen. It had to be at least five feet thick. Harry wasn't even going to guess on its length.

With a rather sickly crunch, the centipede dropped to the ground with thud. Harry gapped at the wolf as it munched away on the carcass for a minute. The wolf, having taken a large chunk out of its flesh, tossed it over to Harry. Harry looked at it warily, unsure whether or not to pick it up.

"Eat," the wolf said in English, surprising Harry.

"What?"

"Eat," the wolf repeated, gulping down on the meat. The wolf sniffed Harry curiously. "A newcomer should always be welcomed, no matter how weak or strong. Do you not eat raw meat?"

"Never tried it before," Harry said, picking up the meat in his hands and sniffing it. He scrunched up his nose in distaste.

"The smell is never good, but the taste is enough to make my mouth water. Eat it."

Harry eyed the expectant look, daring a glance at Tagger who gave him an encouraging nod. He bit into the juicy bug meat, blinking in surprise. It was actually pretty good. He took another bite, and soon another and another, not even realizing how hungry he had been.

"Thank you," Harry said. "Not just for the food, but for saving me."

The wolf cocked his head, one ear twitching. "Saving you?" The wolf, despite its dull tone, sounded a bit amused. "What forest have you come from?"

"None," Harry said truthfully, an odd feeling of embarrassment building inside of him. "I come from the human world."

"Ah." The wolf was silent for a moment. "Why do you wish to reside in the forest now?"

Harry opened his mouth but quickly closed it, choosing his words carefully. "To become stronger. To live in a new world and find out how to become strong and learn more about, well, just everything."

"A fine answer." The wolf started to circle Harry. "What is your breed? I have yet to see such a being as you."

"Human."

The wolf gave out a bark, teeth poking out as its lips widened into a smile. "Human? I have seen many humans before, stranger. You are no human."

Harry smirked and transformed completely back to human, startling the wolf.

Now completely curious, the wolf sniffed Harry all over, Harry allowing him to do so since he didn't want it to get angry at him.

"A shape shifter," the wolf murmured. He stayed silent for a moment. "What is your name, human?"

"Harry," Harry told him, changing back since pines and sticks were starting to dig into his feet. "And yours?"

"Kolair," the wolf answered. "Why do you wish to give up your human life?"

Harry said nothing, not liking this question.

"Harry," Kolair breathed, "what shall you do now?"

"Find a home," Harry answered. "I'm looking for something near the river."

"Not a good choice," Kolair said. "Winter is coming, and soon the river shall be frozen. The air is colder in that area, making it hard to warm the den without protection. For a human… reptile?" Kolair cocked his head at Harry.

"Either way, it would be good to find a den and stuff leaves or fur for warmth. You do not have any pack mates, yes?"

"No, I have only myself and my teacher, but my teacher has forbade me from entering his… den," Harry said, sticking to the word. He sighed. "Where would be a good place?"

"That is up to you, Harry. But here is another question. Do you know your way around?"

"No," Harry grumbled.

"Eat."

"Excuse me?" Harry asked, caught off guard.

"Eat with me," Kolair said, "and let us talk."

Harry moved toward the carcass, more than a little grossed out by the dead bug but started eating little chunks of meat after putting away his knife.

"Do you not eat with just your snout?" Kolair asked suddenly.

"I use my hands to help," Harry said a bit unsurely, finding that talking simply with Kolair was quite relaxing.

"Do you hunt with your snout?"

"No," Harry answered immediately.

"Then why do you have blood on your snout?"

Harry quickly reached up to wipe off the blood from the panther, feeling a little nauseous.

"Eat with me without your hands," Kolair said, voice suddenly stern.

Harry looked at Kolair, face lit up in disbelief. A stern look and upturned lip told Harry he should just do as he was told. As soon as his face was inside the dead centipede, Harry gagged, pulling away as the smell surrounded him. Turning to look at the wolf, Harry grimaced at the stern face and tried it once more, this time taking a nice sized meat out and eating it.

"Ignore everything around you," Kolair said whispered, eating as well. "This is your kill, no one shall challenge you."

"But I didn't kill it," Harry replied, wiping his face with his sleeve.

"Someday it will be," Kolair answered. "Eat," he urged, watching Harry eat. "Eat until your stomach is full and your body is warm and content."

Harry continued to eat. No matter how much he tried to ignore the smell, he just couldn't, and had to pull away quickly. He tried to eat the delicious meat with his hands once, but a light nip on the tail told him Kolair was watching. However, Kolair's hypnotic voice managed to keep Harry calm and not think too deeply on this, allowing him to eat in peace.

They ate together in silence, the atmosphere calm and comforting. Tagger didn't say another word, though he did give Harry encouraging grins and nods each time Harry glanced at him. A good deal later when both had their fill, (Harry actually finishing long before Kolair) the two walked away from the kill.

Harry licked his lips and hands as Kolair started to groom himself for a few minutes. Once both were finished, both feeling warm and sleepy, Kolair started walking away, pausing to turn to Harry.

"Come."

It was with that simple word; Harry knew it wasn't a command, but more of a question, that he followed. He was being given a choice. It didn't take more than a second for Harry to make up his mind as he walked alongside Kolair. He walked on all fours, preferring this comfortable walk to on two legs as he walked with his companion.

Kolair led him to a large bush and pushed some of the branches away with his nose. He disappeared into a hole just large enough to fit him. Harry was unsure whether or not to follow, but as Kolair's head popped out to check on him, Harry didn't need any other coaxing.

It was a small, underground room, with probably enough room for Ron to join the two of them. Leaves were everywhere, making a sort of bed. Kolair rested amongst the leaves, half of is body disappearing into the foot high pile of leaves.

"Join me?"

This time the words definitely sounded questioning.

"I cannot sleep," Harry murmured mournfully, feeling heavy and sleepy.

"And why not?"

"My mind is broken into," Harry said, wondering why he was telling Kolair this.

"Rest against me, Harry," Kolair said, tail wagging a bit. "Your mind shall be protected."

"Are you sure?"

"No."

Harry snorted. "That's not very helpful."

"Your mind is your own. Now rest against me."

Harry narrowed his eyes and sat down. "Why don't you rest against me?" Harry ignored the fact that this conversation was starting to get extremely odd.

Kolair grinned as Harry lay on his side with a rather rebellious look. Getting up, Kolair leaned against Harry's stomach as the two formed a ball of warmth. Harry's eyes roamed Kolair's whitish gray fur, looking at his black pawed feet, long ears, spikes and… spikes?

Harry looked at Kolair's back, noticing bone white spikes starting from the bottom of his neck to the beginning of his tail.

"You have spikes on your back?" Harry questioned somewhat stupidly.

"And so do you," Kolair answered, rolling his head to look Harry in the eye.

Harry stared. "What are you?"

Kolair yawned in Harry's face and turned away, snuggling deeper against Harry's stomach. "My mother was a dire wolf while my father was hellhound."

"Was?"

"They died during a harsh winter years ago."

"I'm sorry."

"All life dies sooner or later. It doesn't matter."

"My parents died as well."

The two were silent for a moment, Harry becoming warmer and warmer by the minute by the small den and Kolair up against his body.

"Sleep now," Kolair said.

"I can't," Harry said again, his eyes already fluttering.

Kolair gave a low, un-menacing growl. "You will sleep," he told Harry gently just as Harry finally shut his eyes and was lost to the dark abyss.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry's mind was in a fragile state. Mental cracks and dents wove through out his mind, making it quite susceptible to being broken and remolded. Voldemort knew this all too well, which was exactly why he broke into Harry's mind whenever he fell asleep since it was when he was most vulnerable.

Harry knew that his mind was failing him, even if his mental state was holding up alright, but he wasn't doing enough. He _couldn't _do enough.

As Harry slept, images of a glass box flashed through his mind, along with random images. Dogs barked at one another as they ran through the city. Hogwarts loomed over a half destroyed forest and a black night was filled with bright lightning bolts.

Despite Harry not meeting with Voldemort in his mind and being dragged into his glass cage, that didn't necessarily mean Voldemort hadn't missed the opportunity to sneak into his mind. As usual, nothing held him back. Harry's magic was no match against the Dark Lord's, especially with the power of the manacles on his side.

Still, even as Voldemort devoured Harry's mind, causing damage that would most likely take effect in the future, Harry didn't realize anyone had invaded his mind. And so he slept. Certainly not calmly, but he slept with the help of Kolair's magic surrounding him. Sometimes having someone to look out for you wasn't so bad.

Harry was nudged awake somewhat gently. His thrashing and whimpers made it just a bit hard for Kolair to wake him. Harry finally opened his eyes, only to close them as a wet tongue wiped away the sleepies.

"Cut it out," Harry mumbled, wriggling away from the mass of fur and warmth. He reopened his eyes and noticed he was shaking. Not from the cold, since there wasn't any, but because of whatever he had dreamt last night. Strangely enough, Harry could only remember brief flashes of his nightmare, Voldemort being the one image he remembered clearly.

Kolair crawled over to him, licking his hair and horns gently. "Good, you have awoken just in time," Kolair said, finished with giving Harry a bath.

"In time for what?" Harry asked, yawning widely and feeling even more tired than before. How was that even possible? This had been the first time he had slept in months!

"Come," Kolair said simply, jumping out of the den. Harry grumbled half heartedly but followed, making sure to crack his back and neck before running out of hole. "Look at the sky," Kolair said, raising his head to the heavens.

Harry looked up, still able to see the stars in the slightly dark sky even though the sun was beginning to rise. He must not have been asleep for more than two hours. "What am I supposed to be looking at?" Harry asked.

"Run with me."

"What?" Did this mutt ever stick to one conversation?

"Run with me," Kolair said, taking off through the trees.

Dumbfounded, Harry could only look at Tagger. Tagger had the same dumbfounded expression, only he had his mouth wide open. "That guy is crazier than the twins and Dumbledore combined!"

Harry could only agree silently as he heard a loud bark up ahead. "Should I follow?" Harry asked.

"Well, he did give you a place to sleep, however that happened," Tagger said thoughtfully.

They were silent for a moment.

"I suggest you run. That guy could probably rip you to shreds. Remember the bug?"

"Joy," Harry muttered as he started jogging to catch up before erupting into a full out run. He couldn't see Kolair anywhere, and he was getting even more tired as each minute passed by. He still wasn't used to the added weight to his rings. "Screw it," Harry growled lowly. "This is important. Level 0 on."

The change was immediate. The weight that Harry had started growing accustomed to was gone, leaving him light and somewhat unbalanced. Almost tripping at his increased speed and loss of momentum, Harry stopped as he looked around. He didn't need to wait long because Kolair ran back up to him like an excited puppy.

All it took was a few headbutts and Harry was running with Kolair, the two of the laughing as they played some sort of messed up tag. It had no secret rule that turned the game morbid, but it was inside the Forbidden Forest where all manners of creatures lived that would love to make the two of them breakfast.

"Faster," Kolair urged. "Faster, faster, faster!"

"Faster," Harry breathed, finally launching himself on all fours, immediately noticing the difference just like with the rings. His body slid past the trees like a snake, his mouth open as he panted like the half breed beside him.

The thrill of running came to Harry, so much stronger than what he felt during the summer with Kilian. The two didn't say anything; they simply ran side by side as they dodged tree and each other, continuing their game of tag. A low, mangled snarl interrupted the two, however, and they both paused in their step, turning to see what would come out of the bushes.

Some type of brown bull peeked around the corner of a thorny bush, eyeing the two of them warily. This bull had three sets of horns, each set curved at odd angles. It also had two short tails, both twitching anxiously.

All it took was one look at the two before it ran off, a rather pathetic squeal coming from its mouth as Kolair ran after it, Harry following only because of Kolair's encouraging calls.

The two chased the scared bull, making sure to dodge the stone hard hooves as the bulls hind legs bucked backwards from time to time as it tried to escape the two of them. Harry laughed, feeling the excitement in him build. Kolair, encouraged by Harry's joy sprang on to the bulls back, stunning both Harry and the bull as it bit into the fleshy neck.

Harry gapped, watching Kolair hold on tightly with his teeth as he was flailed around like a rag doll. The bull cried out wildly, managing to twist its head around and butt Kolair in the side with the tip of two horns, driving off the hellhound for a moment.

But only a brief moment.

Kolair was at it again, snapping at the skinny legs and muscular back. He called at Harry, encouraging him to join in. Like before, Kolair's voice sounded hypnotic, almost willing Harry to join him. Harry could only stand and watch, doing absolutely nothing.

…wait a second.

No, Harry was moving forward. He was doing something! He slashed at the side of the bull, running away as the bull swung its horns his away. Weirded out by what he had done, Harry looked at his hands, looking at the small amount of blood on his hands.

A loud yelp caused him to look up, seeing Kolair fly back just as the bull's hoof shot up in a kick. Kolair snarled, fur bristling and saliva dripping from his mouth. Harry snarled as well, angry at the bull for hurting his friend. Forgetting about the blood, Harry pulled out his knife, advancing slowly with Kolair.

The three were silent, but only for a moment. The bull made the first attack, stomping his hooves down, hard, exactly where Kolair had been moments before. Kolair snapped at an already opened wound on the left side of the bull.

Squealing, the bull thrashed his horns around wildly, managing to hit Harry in the stomach and send him rolling and knocking the breath out of him. Picking himself up, Harry jumped at the bull, wincing as he felt the horns graze his already hurt tail before landing on the tough back.

"Now!" Kolair howled, excitement flooding his very being.

Harry, who felt the same excitement and breathless energy, screamed, "Now!" as well, slamming his knife into the neck of the bull, making its brown eyes go wide.

Harry was then thrown off the bull, its furious bucking getting lazier and lazier as the knife slowly did its work on the vein. Kolair's bites weren't helping either. Harry… well, he just stood there, watching as it took two full minutes for the bull to die

Kolair and Harry stood side by side, both panting as they felt the excitement leave them, now welcoming pride. They had beaten this bull; they had come out as the winner.

"Wow," Harry said at last, bringing out a small bark of laughter from Kolair.

The hellhound sniffed the dead bull and ripped out a large chunk of meat, swallowing it whole. "Eat with me," Kolair said, starting at Harry.

Harry came over to the wolf and ripped off a small piece, looking at the red meat curiously. He didn't chance sniffing it, remembering the centipede. He took a bite and immediately started choking. It was awful! Forcing himself to swallow the meat, Harry made a disgusted face and tossed the rest of the meat away from him.

"Perhaps you only like bug meat raw," Kolair said thoughtfully, looking far too amused for Harry's liking.

"Well, I am used to cooked meat," Harry said, poking at a visible rib, briefly wondering if he should feel grossed out by this. Since he wasn't feeling grossed out or even slightly nauseous, Harry set aside the thought.

"Too true, human," Kolair said, saying the word somewhat thoughtfully.

Kolair finished off one more bite before looking up at the sky. Harry did the same, watching the sun rise fully from above the trees, watching the last of the twinkling stars blink out of existence.

"We have killed together by night and day," Kolair said suddenly, still looking at the sky. His voice, usually a dull neutral and lazy sound, was very serious right now. "We have slept together by night and day and we have hunted together by night and day," Kolair continued. "And we have eaten together, shared together and trusted together."

Harry who hadn't once looked at Kolair throughout that little speech finally looked over at the hellhound.

"We are pack brothers of trust and strength," Kolair said intently.

"Pack," Harry repeated softly.

"You came to this forest without a pack, but from this moment on I shall be your first pack brother, but most certainly not your last." Kolair stood tall and proud, tail wagging slightly. "As your pack brother, I am your protector, your teacher and your friend, just as you will be to me.

"You will be my protector, my teacher and my friend. And when we run together, may we both find peace and strength."

Harry could only stare at Kolair, finding warmth spreading throughout his body as a foreign emotion spread through him as he smiled. "And I shall abide by these laws," Harry said softly, feeling like he needed to say it. "I am you pack brother, and I shall help you whenever you are in need of aid."

"As will I," Kolair said.

The two stared at each other silently, a bond forming as magic surrounded the two.

"You are so damn lucky you found this guy!" Tagger screamed loudly, completely ruining the moment for Harry.

Kolair, who also seemed to know the moment was over, said, "And now I leave you to finding your den. I know we shall meet again soon, but now I must go back to my family and pack."

Harry nodded. "Before you leave, you wouldn't happen to know how far the river is from here, would you?" Harry asked.

Kolair snorted. "Thirteen yards straight ahead of you," Kolair said, giving Harry one last look before running off and leaving the teen all alone with the dead bull.

Harry watched his friend disappear for a moment before glancing down at the carcass and sighing. What was he supposed to do with this? He could just leave it, but he needed to bring meat back to Abaddon.

Deciding to abandon the pile of meat for the moment, Harry pulled out his knife and ran to where the river was supposed to be and almost sighed in relief. "Finally," Harry said, scooping up some water in his hands to wash the blood off before taking a large gulp of water, feeling refreshed as the cold water spread through his body. He stopped after a few more gulps, feeling full and noticing some odd colored fish swimming around. Having no idea what kind of damage the unknown fish could do to him, Harry left them alone.

"Now what?" Tagger asked as animals started to wake up with the rising sun with calls and screeches.

"Now we find a home," Harry said, walking away from the river but also away from the dead bull.

"Hey, what about the bull?" Tagger asked.

"There would be no point to lug that thing around," Harry said logically. "It would only slow me down and even if I cut some meat off it would spoil by noon or attract unwanted attention." Harry ran a finger over his knife, still feeling pride in his accomplishment.

"So what about Abaddon's meat?" Tagger asked.

"I'll get something later," Harry said a little unsurely as he thought about where to head next.

"How far do you want to get away from the river?" Tagger asked.

Harry shrugged. "I want to at least be somewhere that will be equal distance between the river and Abaddon's place." Harry paused for a moment. "I couldn't have walked that much farther than one thousand yards," he said thoughtfully. "So I guess I could go up into a tree and see where I am, choose a direction and walk about fifteen thousand feet."

The two were silent.

"Good luck with that," Tagger said finally.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Clone Harry closed his book as he looked up from where he sat in the Gryffindor Common room. He rested casually against the plump armchair in front of the fire. People passed by, talking animatedly as they headed to breakfast.

Clone Harry smiled with an unnoticeable gleam in his eye. It was morning, and he just knew the original had survived the night. Clone Harry now figured that the creator had at least found a proper place to start setting up and call it his home, but since luck was never on his… their side; Clone Harry figured the creator was still looking or probably running away from something.

Oh well. At least he got to relax and not run around. All he had to do was do well in school, study hard and be sure to fool everyone. That shouldn't be too hard. After all, they _were_ the same person.

"Good morning, Hermione," Clone Harry said cheerfully, waving to her as she descended the stairs from the girl dormitory.

"Harry?" Hermione questioned. "You're up awful early.

"I got up early," Clone Harry informed.

"That's good. I keep telling you and Ron to get up early so we don't have to rush through breakfast to get to class on time." Hermione cocked her head at her grinning friend. "What's got you so happy?"

Clone Harry just continued to smile. "Today just feels like a good day," he told her. "I know today will be a good day."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Oh my freakin' god," Harry groaned, feeling like he was going to collapse as he slumped to the ground, legs feeling extremely sore. He had put the weight back on and had been walking for the past hour. "This day sucks."

It wasn't the fact that he was sore, it was the fact that he was wasting time and had yet to find a decent place to stay was what was bothering Harry. He had been attacked two other times within the hour, snapping at them angrily and slashing with his knife. With his irritated mood, Harry didn't really care as he hurt the Acromantula's. Really, after what they had done to him his second year, Harry didn't care if they bled to death.

However, the fact that two giant spiders did tell him their nest was probably close by. He reluctantly turned around and chose another path, finding his second choice much more rewarding. He did get to see a bunch of wild animals gorge themselves on the dead bull and watched them for a while before leaving them to their breakfast. He wondered if the bones would be left alone, hoping to be able to retrieve them later.

His thoughts on retrieving the bones were interrupted as a low whistle erupted through the forest. Harry looked up and found the source. It appeared be a little, eight inch man made out of bark. Harry tilted his head, staring at the strange creature. Brown eyes stared back, twig like fingers holding a leaf to its mouth as it continued to blow into the leaf.

After a moment, it tossed the leaf aside and seemed to melt into the tree without a second glance at Harry. Harry could only stare before he remembered Kilian's words.

"The trees could help me," Harry said softly, staring at the tree before remembering the burrow he and Kolair had slept in. It had been a hole dug underneath a bush. Harry tapped his foot against a visible root, jumping a bit as it quickly disappeared under the earth.

"I suppose I'll be looking for a safe tree with no offensive abilities," Harry said thoughtfully, rethinking about the distance he had covered.

Ok, so maybe one thousand yards was a bit much, but it's a possibility. The forest was large, but he also had to think about how slow he was. The truth was, Harry had no idea how far he had walked within the last five or so hours. He did, however, know which way the river and Abaddon's place was, no matter which way. That was a bonus, even if he sometimes needed to climb a tree to look around.

A few animals hadn't taken too kindly to having their home broken into, and had voiced their protest quite loudly, encouraging Harry to be more careful when choosing a tree.

"Look at what we have here," Tagger said, as they came to a rather large cliff. The two looked down; pretty sure it was probably bigger than Abaddon by half. "Looks like a good place to practice flying," Tagger said cheerfully.

"Not on your life," Harry said, kicking a rock down the cliff and watching it drop. The two watched as it disappeared, completely out of sight. Turning back around, the two searched for the perfect tree.

"Why don't you just climb another tree?" Tagger suggested.

"And just what would that do?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, maybe find your tree?" Tagger said lamely.

Harry snorted, continuing his trek through the forest. Not even five minutes later, Harry was pretty sure he had found his match. He eyed the tall tree anxiously, looking for any sign of attack or some unknown power. Nothing happened, even when he tossed a rock at it. He peered up the tree, seeing no creature living within its branches.

Harry circled the trunk carefully, thinking it had to at least be six or seven feet in width. Harry looked up at the long tree, not even going to guess on its height. He tapped the trunk with his foot and noticed no danger was coming at him. He once again circled the trunk and found a good area where he would start digging. It already looked like it had a small hole dug by the trunk.

Harry kneeled next to one of the giant roots that snaked in and out of the earth. He tried to peer down the hole, wondering if something lived in it. By the time he realized what a stupid idea it was to look into something without any knowledge of its history, he had realized nothing was alive or had been living in it since it was only three inches long, Harry backed away before he started digging so he could have more room.

Right away he started, enjoying the fact that his clawed and scaled hand provided protection from the dirt and small pebbles as he pulled out dirt, tossing it away carelessly.

"Uh, Harry?" Tagger asked.

"Yea?" Harry asked, still flinging dirt away.

"How deep do want the hole to be?"

Harry paused. "Deeper than that den Kolair and I slept in."

"That'll be a lot of dirt to dig up," Tagger said lazily, a small grin on his face.

"Your point?" Harry asked, looking at the small dragon.

"Don't you think it would look awfully suspicious if a giant pile of dirt was next to a tree with some type of covering near the base of the trunk?"

Harry almost slapped a hand to his forehead. How could he have been so stupid? That would have drawn anybody's attention. Now what should he do? Harry looked around, a smile slowly forming as he gazed what looked like a rather large pod hanging in a tree a few feet away.

Harry looked up at the tree, noticing about two others. Concentrating, Harry grinned in success as the three pods twitched before falling to the ground with a small thump. He concentrated some more, focusing his magic to perform the only thing he could do with wandless magic: levitation.

The three pods followed Harry obediently to his tree where he took out his knife and began to cut them in half, frowning at how hard it was. The pods were about his size and were even thicker than him. Twenty minutes later, Harry had successfully cut the pods, revealing round green things. For a second, Harry thought they might be giant green beans. A single cut into the round things made them deflate, making Harry wonder if they were some type of weird seed that was only filled with oxygen.

He sniffed it, wondering if it tasted alright. Taking a chance, he licked it, making a face at the sour taste. Finding the seed things useless at the moment, Harry put the seeds off to the side for the moment, hoping he would have some use for them later. For now, however, Harry went back to digging.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was several hours later that Harry finally stopped for a break. According to his very dirty pocket watch it was now exactly 9:00 in the morning. He leaned against his tree, now deeming it as his property. After digging until he could get exactly four feet underground and make it four feet wide, Harry would be damned if his little den wasn't considered his.

He had piled small pebbles and dirt into the large pods, levitating them with him as he reached the cliff a good five minutes away from his tree where he threw it over the cliff. Walking another five minutes back to the tree was extremely irritating, but Harry knew he couldn't run with the pods levitating behind him since they would just fall or spill dirt everywhere.

Levitating the pods had proved to be draining, especially since he hadn't practiced wandless magic that much, and certainly not for two hours. The next hour he dragged two pods with him, making the five minute trip ten minutes. The way back was easier since the pods couldn't be more than three pounds, despite how big they were. Still, despite how slow he was doing, Harry was proud of his work.

However, one animal in particular, a young Jarvey, which was a weasel like creature that often lived underground, had tried to take his den. It screamed insults at him and clawed ferociously at him. Annoyed with the creature's ability to speak in English but do nothing but insult, Harry had pulled out his knife, managing to cut off its one foot tail before it fled.

He still had the tail, deciding he would could it for breakfast. And that was what he planned on doing in the next few minutes. For now, Harry sat against the tree, completely human as he let the wind blow against his warm skin. Despite it being October, it wasn't that cold. Harry was extremely grateful for that but knew it wouldn't last long.

"Might want to hurry it along," Tagger said, watching Harry closely. "You have to reach Abaddon's place at noon."

Harry groaned and stood up. "I suppose you're right," Harry agreed, transforming half way.

It was an odd little trait he had learned while with Kilian. He knew he could transform his hands occasionally, but he found out he could transform half way. It had been little more than a joke and dare between the two ever since Harry showed her he could only transform his hands.

In his half formed state, his feet changed and scales grew several inches past his knee, allowing the spike on his knees to poke out of his pants. His hands changes, scales stopping halfway before his elbows. Tail was there, as well as a few sharp teeth and exceptional hearing and eye sight. It was an odd thing, Harry reflected.

Why couldn't other animagus's do what he did? Did it have to do with his form? Harry decided to ask Abaddon. The giant dragon seemed to know just about everything. Grabbing two pods by the vines he had attached to them, Harry picked them up and headed toward the river, knowing which way it was. It was always off to the right of a small, curved twig sticking out of his tree.

"Wait, Harry," Tagger said seriously.

"What now?"

"How will you know which tree is yours?"

"I'll know," Harry said. How on earth could he not know what his tree looks like? He had been staring at it for three hours!

"But what if you get lost?" Tagger asked reasonably. "We couldn't try the tree climbing thing because the top looks just like all the others."

Tagger did have a point, Harry conceded. Getting an idea, Harry dropped his two pods and ran up the tree, delighting in how having claws made it so much easier. He got to the top a minute later and started hacking down the skinny branches at the top. He broke the branches carefully before tossing them to the ground in a pile. Once there was about four feet of no branches at the top, Harry jumped away to one of the farther branches, eyeing it carefully.

It was perfectly straight and perfectly bare. Biting his lip, Harry brought out his knife and cut off the outer bark, leaving it bone white. Satisfied, Harry jumped back. There, now he could tell which tree his was from above. No other tree was completely pointed with any branches at the top or white bones. Other than that ice tree, but that one had branches.

"That should help," Harry said happily to Tagger, climbing back down and picking up his two pods. The others were leaning against his tree, one holding the Jarvey tail. He hoped it wouldn't attract attention and hoped nothing else tried to take his den. Dropping his pods down once more, Harry sighed, wondering what to do.

"Animals mark their territory," Tagger suggested.

"I am not pissing on my tree and making it smell," Harry said firmly.

"You pissed on a different tree earlier," Tagger pointed out.

"Only because it wasn't my tree and I had to go to the bathroom," Harry said, completely exasperated.

"Maybe a mark or a symbol, then?" Tagger offered weakly.

Harry stared at Tagger. "That's such a bad idea," Harry said. "Do you think it work?"

"I have no idea. You have nothing to lose."

"Guess you're right. What should the mark be?"

"I don't know." Tagger thought for a moment. "Maybe you can just slash the tree right above the hole. Claw marks would look cool."

"But would it be a warning to others that this tree is taken?" Harry wondered. "I don't care if the symbol is ugly, so long as others stay away."

"That's a stupid idea."

"Why?"

"Do you really want an ugly mark hovering above your home?"

Harry deflated. "I suppose your right," he conceded. "Claw marks will do." Walking over to the tree, right above his hole, Harry slashed at the tree, wincing as it dug oddly at a few undersides of his scales.

There, he now had a mark. Harry glanced down at his hole, proud that the top only allowed his body to fit before it opened out more underground. That had taken some serious work.

"Ok, I think that's it," Harry said at last, picking up his pods once again and heading off toward the river, Tagger floating behind.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The river had the occasional animal swimming or taking drinks every few feet from one another. Harry had yet to see anything close to a human, like a Centaur or a Lameon, not that he wanted to meet either one, but at least he knew the smaller animals at the wide river weren't ready to attack him, especially with their cautious looks.

Still, when Harry sat down beside the river and started drinking, the others left him alone but still kept an eye on him, just as he did to them. Once Harry had quenched his thirst, Harry sighed in content and took a look at his reflection, nose curling at how dirty he was. He was covered in dirt!

Taking off his shirt, Harry washed it in the water quickly so he could wash himself, determined to feel at least a bit cleaner than what he was for lunch. He tossed water all over him, making sure to wash off his pocket watch to know the time. His scales and skin ran with mud and a few small twigs as he washed the water over him. Reveling in the cool water over his hot skin, Harry closed his eyes in bliss.

But only for a moment.

There was no need to get too comfortable among a crowd of strangers. There was no way for sure to know if he wouldn't get attacked. Quickly washing as much dirt as could, Harry wrung out his wet shirt and put it back on, enjoying the cool feel on his scales. It was still a bit odd, knowing that he could now have scales; even it had been several months.

Filling his two pods full of water, Harry dragged them away from the river as fast as possible, the stares getting to him just a bit too quickly. It had to be at least thirty minutes later before Harry finally reached his tree. The pods we heavy with water and he had to be careful not to spill any. Not to mention avoiding certain area with loud growls or too many uprooted areas.

"Home sweet home," Tagger said with a grin as Harry dropped beside his tree and fumbled with his empty pods to take out the Jarvey tail.

"Yea, home," Harry responded unenthusiastically.

Harry stared at the tail for a moment, wondering what on earth he should do with it. He had never skinned anything before. Taking a rather large stone, Harry set it in front of him and grabbed his knife, carefully shedding the fur off. He tried to get as much meat off as he could onto the rock.

By the time forty minutes of careful cutting was up, Harry wasn't sure he should be satisfied or not. Strands of fur was littered everywhere, causing Harry to sneeze every now and then. The wind was doing a good job blowing it all away but that didn't make it any less annoying. Harry had managed to get a few good pieces of meat on the rock, despite the fact that it was only a tail but it was still one foot of meat.

Harry built a small fire place. Rocks gathered in a circle around the rock with meat as it sat over large twigs and leaves. A simple electric butterfly was all it took before the twigs and leaves alighted with fire. It was rather depressing to realize that Harry hadn't gotten better with his strange ability over the element of lightning.

At least he had a tasty lunch.

"What time is now?" Tagger asked after Harry liked the last of his water up from within one pod.

Harry checked his pocket watch. "Almost noon," he responded. "I suppose I should start heading back to Abandon's and prove I found some place to live."

"Despite how small and somewhat pathetic it is," Tagger said.

Harry scowled even though he agreed inwardly. "Where should I put the rest of my water?"

Tagger looked around for a moment before shrugging. "There aren't a lot of choices," he said finally. "Maybe you can fit it into your hole?"

Harry glanced at his den. "It would just spill because of the angle."

"Then I don't know," Tagger said a bit impatiently. "Just dump it and put the pod things inside your little hole."

Harry groaned. The pods were too big for the hole. Heck, there was no way he could sleep in this den of his without getting stuck. Only being four feet big really put a dander on the plan. Having no other choice, Harry went back to digging. He dug as hard and as fast as possible, not even putting the dirt into his pods. He just threw it into a pile, determined to make his den larger for the night once he returned to Abandon's.

"Even if it's large enough to sleep comfortably, don't you have to be at the castle by midnight anyway?" Tagger asked as Harry popped up from underneath the tree. "And what about your little problem with not sleeping?"

That made Harry pause. What could he do? He couldn't sleep, despite his little outing with Kolair. What on earth was up with that anyway? Some random wolf… hellhound… thing became his pack brother? Not to mention Kolair somehow allowed Harry to sleep, despite his nightmares.

Harry sighed and tossed the dirt away and dragged to pods inside, making them curl up and take up all the room. He tried one more, but that one couldn't fit. Annoyed, Harry dumped the water on the tree beside his and put the remaining ponds in the branches of his tree.

"What was the point of that?" Tagger asked. "What if something takes them?"

"They had been hanging in a tree for a long time," Harry pointed out, walking decisively in one direction. "If something wanted them they would have been gone already."

"Good point." Tagger was silent for a moment. "So where are we going?"

"To Abaddon's," Harry said firmly. "I have a place to stay, despite how small. Besides, I have questions that need answering."

Tagger didn't say anything; he just hovered alongside of him as Harry ran through the forest. His run didn't last long before it came to a jog before turning into a quick walk. Harry was pretty far from Abandon's.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Tagger asked carefully.

Harry frowned as he looked at the white dragon. "Yes," he said after a moment. "I don't really know how, but I definitely know I'm going in the right direction."

"If you say so."

"I know I'm right."

"If you say so," Tagger said again.

It was a good two hours before Harry found some things he recognized. He found the strange abandoned farm where he had fought the raptors. He briefly wondered what had happened to them before suddenly wishing they never showed up again. The large boulder with the entrance loomed over Harry as he stared at it.

He entered it somewhat unsurely but squashed that feeling down as he descended the steps. Just like last time, it took Harry to reach the bottom, but he didn't rush. He was already dead tired. A slight trepidation rose within Harry as he walked in front of Abaddon and spoke clearly.

"I'm alive," Harry said quietly. "I survive the night."

Abaddon eyed Harry with no emotion. "You have," the great beast agreed. "Do you have a home?"

Harry didn't open his mouth right away. "No," he said, ignoring Tagger's dropped jaw. "It isn't finished, and certainly won't be finished for a while."

Abaddon grinned evilly. "Good."

Harry blinked. "Good?"

"It means you understand."

Harry was silent for a moment. "A hellhound and I became pack brothers during the night," he said hesitantly.

Abaddon tapped the ground with a massive claw, causing the ground to shake somewhat. "Did you?" he asked interestedly.

"Yes." Harry paused. "Is that normal?"

"Very rare," Abaddon commented. "Did you find this hellhound or did it find you?"

"He found me," Harry said. "Kolair… it was like he was looking for me."

"He was."

They were silent for a moment.

"How?"

"There are certain beings who are connected in someway or another," Abaddon said, voice uncaring. "Be it a lover, friend, or sibling, there is a one in ten millionth chance of finding the one who has a connection with you. Were you born on the seventh?" Abaddon asked suddenly.

"What? Why?"

"Because you are extremely lucky."

"Well, I was born in the seventh month," Harry responded, earning a grunt from Abaddon. "What does it mean? Being pack brothers?"

"Nothing," Abaddon said watching Harry closely. "Perhaps a sense of acknowledgment someone knows of you or the memory will just pass you by. I'll assume the two of you hunted together?" Harry nodded. "Then perhaps teaching or protection." Abaddon sighed. "What will come will come."

"So what now?" Harry asked. "And how far am I from the castle?"

"For you," Abaddon said with a sneer, at least a twelve hour run without stopping and knowing the right direction."

"What!"

"Quiet!" Abaddon roared, causing Harry to flinch at the loudness. "We will remedy this now. You wizards who have never lived in this forest have no idea that the forest is always changing its direction. Going straight one day could mean going left the next. After a while, it becomes natural to follow your instinct and know the right direction.

"Since you're here I don't need to worry about your poor sense of direction. Your speed, or lack of speed I should say, is the problem. Not to mention your stamina." Abaddon snorted in disgust. "I shall rectify this now."

"You will?"

"Of course I will, brat," Abaddon said impatiently, glaring at Harry. "Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Good, now strip."

"What?" Harry asked, not sure if he heard Abaddon correctly.

"Now!" Abaddon barked. "Or shall I rip your clothing apart?"

Harry scowled and, completely embarrassed, Harry transformed back into human to make it easier to get undressed. He dropped his backpack on the ground where his shirt and pants soon joined them.

"Everything," Abaddon ordered.

Completely red faced, Harry dropped his boxers with the rest of his clothing.

Ignoring Harry's embarrassment, Abaddon said, "And now we shall make your body much more durable. You seemed interested in Ancient Runes and Blood Magic. Today you'll get a hands on course, brat. And one more thing."

"What?" Harry ground out, trying his best to ignore Tagger's laughter.

"Where's my meat?"

Harry groaned. He knew he had forgotten something.

Abaddon smirked. "You will learn, brat," he said smoothly, "that I expect all orders to be followed. How else will you learn?" The first strike caught Harry by surprise, hitting him on the back and allowing a small gasp to escape him.

The second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eight, ninth and tenth time each brought out a small yelp or gasp as Harry was struck by the black energy. He shivered a bit after the tenth strike, blood leaking out of the long cuts across his body in various places. He had been struck in ten completely different spot.

Harry glared.

"First lesson." Abaddon said with a sneer. "Learn to take orders." The eleventh strike came at him. Harry tried to dodge out of the way, but no matter where he went the black magic followed him.

It became a game of chase as black magic struck at Harry. Finally, after the twentieth strike, Abaddon stopped.

Harry was panting hard and kneeling, embarrassment long forgotten as he glared up at Abaddon, blood leaking down everywhere. "I hate," you he whispered.

Abaddon's neutral face didn't change. "Good," he said at last, sending out his black magic to caress Harry, almost in a deranged version of caring.

Even as the blood dried away and the cuts disappeared, still leaving him with the pain, Harry glared.

"Good," Abaddon said again.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I hope you all liked this. I'll explain a whole lot more on what happened with Kolair and Harry next chapter. The two won't be together all that much in the story, but their reasoning is very important for the future. I hope this will satisfy you all for a while.


	17. Scaly Faces

So after several months of no updates, save new stories that probably should not have been written, I give you the next chapter. However, this past year has not gone in waste. All future chapters have already been summarized out… now I just need to type them out.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry's body burned with foreign magic as he continued to decimate his body with the knife in his hand. It was already covered in his sticky blood, slowly letting red drops fall to the ground as Harry paused from carving various runes into his body. His back was already covered in runes, thanks to his wandless levitating and Abaddon's directions, and his arms and legs looked like tattoo sleeves.

He was currently finishing up on his heel, gritting his teeth each time as the knife tore away more skin. His whole body was in pain, not yet at the point of complete numbness. Harry had a feeling Abaddon had something to do with that as the runes glowed a soft whitish yellow, indicating they were filled with magic and ready to serve their purpose.

"Done at last?" Abaddon remarked as Harry finally dropped the knife.

Harry scowled at Abaddon, face quickly turning into a grimace. "Unless of course you have anymore directions," he said smartly.

Abaddon's eyes narrowed, causing Harry to immediately shut his mouth. "Only what must be done to continue the ritual," came the deep growl.

Harry nodded warily. "What is this supposed to do to me again?"

Abaddon's low growl echoed throughout the chamber. "Do learn to remember to listen, no matter how much pain you are in. Others, such as your master, will expect you to listen even when receiving pain."

Harry did nothing other than curl a lip at the term master.

Abaddon, seemingly satisfied, continued. "This ritual is nothing more than an extra boost of energy in area's where humans are weakest." Abaddon's lip curled to match Harry's disgusted expression. "Humans do not use all of their brain." Abaddon paused. "Most creatures do not use their brain, as pathetic as that is."

"Why?"

Abaddon stared down at Harry thoughtfully. "Humans already have such a vast selection of knowledge, most leading to destruction. It is possible that magic, or perhaps a god or God itself, if such things exist, put a damper on every single beings magical core."

"Everything?" Harry questioned. "Even the muggles?"

Abaddon's lip quivered, just waiting to let loose a snarl. "Even those pathetic creatures. Their magic is small, so small that it can't even be found. It is this magic that allows muggles to perform acts of adrenaline or even heroic deeds during a disaster. I personally do not believe it is not magic, but instead their soul. All beings have souls, but since muggles do not have magical abilities, it is perhaps their soul reacting, acting as a spontaneous magical core for the moment."

Abaddon paused once more; regarding Harry with such perspectives that Harry wondered if Abaddon was truly ready to keep his side of the deal. It was obvious being alone too long before being forced to see, let alone teach, a complete stranger everyday must be taxing on one's stress and social psychology.

"There are some muggles that have a firmer grasp on their magic," Abaddon continued. "It is not enough to learn your magic, even if it is the weakest of spells. These muggles study the earth and the mind. These humans are known as Wicca, Pagan, Spirtiulist's and were some of the first 'witches' to be burnt during the age of witch hunts. Martial art masters also have an awareness of some magic, often called Chi or Aura."

Abaddon licked his lips, thinking about all the flesh being burned and ripped apart from the witch hunts. He looked down at Harry who was completely unaware of his thoughts. "Alas, we have strayed away from the topic at hand," he said softly. "This ritual shall help your mind open one percent more than what it was. That may seem like a little number, but in your case, as well as any other human, it is enough. Too much release on your brain could kill you. Your magic, mind and brain can only handle so much.

"The runes on your head are for this purpose, as well as better memory. Don't believe you will get a photographic memory," Abaddon snapped, seeing Harry's awed face. "It will be far from it. The runes on your body are to help with endurance and harder bones. Only with training can you help your body be better in other areas, such as strength and speed. I don't want to hear any whining because you didn't become strong or godlike with such a pathetic ritual."

Harry nodded. "Why isn't this ritual used more often?"

"Who says it is not?" Abaddon scratched his chin with a massive claw, scales gleaming whenever the light (that seemingly came from nowhere) hit it. "Your law enforcement uses such rituals, if not to this degree. Now, enough questions, get the crystals ready."

Harry knelt before the four black crystals, making sure they were placed properly in the North, East, South and West position.

"Do you remember the words?"

Harry looked up at Abaddon, who was watching him with such deadly red eyes, and nodded, knowing that if he did not punishment would be involved.

Abaddon's teeth showed. "Begin," he ordered coldly.

Harry took a deep breath and began, all the while focusing his magic on his runes and the crystals. He began to chant in a low hiss, making sure he pronounced each word clearly.

"_Per meus veneficus ego operor thee sudo per filiolus spondeo myself obviam totus humanus balbutio cuspis quod fines finium. _

"_Permissum non meus humanus mens exsisto tampered per reproba statua , tamen per instinct of bestia intus. Vadum meus vires provent, ego solvo meus mens of niger quod niveus."_

He chanted this over and over until he had finally repeated it seven times. By that time his entire body was glowing a dark purple and the runes burned a black, charcoal color. Harry shivered as his body constricted against itself once he finished chanting, finding himself unable to breath.

Coughing desperately for air, Harry clawed at his throat, convulsing on the floor as his body shook wildly. His veins could clearly be seen as his muscles twitched. The veins in his head throbbed against his skin, looking ready to burst. Harry's eyes turned completely black before darkness overtook him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry floated through his mind as nothing more than a ghost, a mere whisper in the wind. He was there and he was not. Harry could still see Abaddon and the chamber as he thrashed around with the runes glowing, and yet he could see nothing but the darkness of his subconscious.

Images rushed passed him as he continued to float toward a single object lit up in the distance. It was still too tiny to see. Harry didn't mind he didn't know what it was. He was content with just floating along; watching images come and go that showed his more recent memories. They showed his achievements and new friends, along with his failures and enemies.

It was nice watching these since it helped Harry understand where he went wrong and how to improve the situation. The events that were successes were also showed in a new light. Harry could have done things differently, done things in easier ways and gain more.

As Harry watched these images finally come to a stop, Harry noticed that he had come to a stop at the giant glass cage. Harry shivered at the prison. Harry looked around and spotted a similar one in the distance. Tagger was inside, his face both enraged and mournful at his imprisonment. There were two other ones on either side of Tagger, though they were completely enshrouded in shadow. Harry could see no movements or shapes from the beings within.

Harry turned back to his own prison and, for the first time, noticed it gave off a faint green glow. It was hardly noticeable and could only be seen if you were actually looking for something. The green glow surrounded the whole outside of the glass prison like an outline before going off into the distance like a trail of light. Curious, Harry followed the odd light.

Harry didn't know how long he floated, though it felt like hours, and by the time he finally found the end of the light trail, he had gone deathly white at the discovery. There was a swirling vortex of dark colors, mostly black and dark red. Small images floated around, showing events that Harry had both seen and never seen before. The green light flowed into the middle of the vortex.

An image of Voldemort appeared before disappearing as soon as it had appeared. Harry grimaced. He hadn't needed to see Voldemort to know that this vortex was connected to the mad man. The aura itself was more than enough for Harry to recognize it. So this was it. This was the mind link that connected Harry and Voldemort together.

Harry glared at the vortex, putting all his hate and anger behind it. Harry longed to get rid of the vortex, to see it disappear and never return. And if he couldn't do that, he wished there was something to lock it away or provide a distraction to it. Harry now knew this was how Voldemort came into his mind each night when he fell asleep.

Harry also saw a see through shield surrounding the vortex. He touched them, surprised at the rough surface. They felt familiar. Harry now knew these were his own natural shields. They probably were easy to shatter once he fell asleep and his awareness was gone.

Walking past the shields, Harry stepped right up to Voldemort's mind entrance. With another furious look, Harry made a vicious swipe at it, hoping to destroy it. As soon as his hand touched the dark entrance, the world shifted and blurred, almost making Harry dizzy as he tried to make out what was happening.

Once the world stopped spinning, Harry found he was in a small, dank chamber. The walls were hard stone and there were small bars for a window almost six feet high against the wall that let in gray light. A small figure in the corner caught Harry's attention, however. It was crouched into a ball, wearing nothing more than scraps of clothing and was shaking.

"Hello?" Harry called hesitantly. He took a few cautious steps forward and nearly jumped out of his skin as the figure lurched toward him and cackled insanely.

Harry stared at the figure in horror and confusion. It was him! Well, at least another figure that looked like an insane version of him. This Harry had horribly mess and greasy hair that looked just plain wild. His face was completely pale and the eyes… The dark circles were truly like a panda's. They were pure black and let the mad, green eyes sparkle with blood lust horror. The arms were covered in deep scars that were not from torture, but self mutilation. The manacles sparkled out at Harry hauntingly and were the only things clean on this Harry.

Harry backed away as he watched this other Harry cackled insanely and rub the manacles in an honored detachment. His tongue rolled out of his mouth as a set of cracked teeth showed themselves to Harry, much to his disgust, and drool ran down his chin.

"Ca… esp…" the insane Harry rasped.

"What was that?" Harry asked hesitantly, almost too soft to hear.

…nt sl… p," insane Harry groaned, now crouching down and holding his disgusting head with yellowed nails tight enough to draw blood.

"What?" Harry demanded, now needing to now.

Insane Harry jerked his head up in a flash, insane smile showing widely as he screamed, "Can't sleep! Can't sleep! Can't sleep! Hahahahah!" Insane Harry laughed and laughed as he ran around the prison, allowing his nails to scratch against the stone and his head to beat against the walls in anguish and madness.

Feeling sick at the sight, Harry could only give a sigh of relief as the mind world blurred and the real world appeared. Harry was lying on his back as he gazed at Abaddon mindlessly. Sitting up, Harry could feel his stomach churn as he thought of the image of his insane counterpart.

"What was that?" Harry asked quietly, looking at his hands. All the runes had disappeared.

"Your mindscape," Abaddon said, arms folded under his massive body and looking quite bored with only a hint of irritation.

"Were you there?" Harry questioned, fixing the beast with a piercing and inquisitive stare.

Abaddon looked annoyed at the question. "Of course, brat," Abaddon snapped. "I watched it all, and I must say that your situation is worse than I thought." Harry gave a worried look. "You link with this human is none of which I have ever seen before, even in the deepest of love bonds. Believe me, brat, there is no such link that is more intimate than a love bond. Yours is complicated and does not even look fixable."

"Then how can I sleep?" Harry asked. "Everytime I fall asleep my shields fall."

"And mind magic comes into the discussion once more," Abaddon said, looking at Harry deeply. "Alas, for you, your mind will never be sufficient in Occlumency."

Harry looked down in thought, reining in his emotions. "Why?"

"Occlumency is for the defensive, the weak that would rather run away from battle. Your mind is and never will be like that. Occlumency is for the patient, and while you may learn patience, it is not your natural instinct. Animals rule their minds with instinct, and so do you."

"Then can I learn Legilemency?" Harry asked.

"No." Harry looked even more hopeless. "Don't give me those pathetic looks, brat!" Abaddon roared. "Fortunately for you, we already have a solution, though it was an unplanned but helpful one. It is located on your back."

"My back…?" Harry attempted to turn around and gaze at his shoulder. Tagger's tattoo image floated happily onto his arm and showed off for Harry to see properly.

"Not that one," Abaddon snapped. "The phoenix. Those vain birds have the power to heal both the body and the mind. This Voldemort is against all that is pure and will undoubtedly stray away from the phoenix. All you must do is awaken the tribal tattoo. Do not forget the Occamy, for it may prove useful, and I suggest you do it quickly."

"So these tattoos might be able to protect my mind?" Harry asked excitedly. "How do I awaken them?"

"Magic," Abaddon said softly. "Pour magic into them or find something within yourself, for that is the way of tribal tattoos."

Harry nodded in understanding and shuffled around a bit awkwardly for a moment. "Abaddon, why did I see that image of me?"

"It is what you would have become if you did not have magic or potions on you side," Abaddon answered, his lip curling with disdain. "It was very foolish of you to not sleep. It is incredibly damaging. You are very lucky you are not normal, though I suppose in your case with that link of yours, Voldemort would have driven you insane anyways. Like I said, brat, best work on your tattoos quickly."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So that was some messed up shit," Tagger said, blunt as ever.

Harry jogged through the forest in his half demon form, tail floating behind in midair as he picked up speed. Jumping over a particularly thick log, Harry spared Tagger a glance.

"I agree. I honestly had no idea that I could've become that thing," Harry said, grimacing at the thought as he shot up into the trees, eager to not go into the path of the Mantygre up ahead.

Mantygre's had the body of a tiger and the head of an old man with horns. They were often peaceful creatures that attacked second unless provoked. The one up ahead, however, looked a little irritated about something.

"Do you think you can awaken your tattoo?" Tagger asked, floating lazily along.

"I hope so," Harry replied coming to a stop as he neared a cliff next to a running river. Looking down, Harry was awed by the sight. A large lagoon was at the bottom at least twenty feet down. The trees and plants looked like they were a mix of forest and rainforest. The clear blue water churned under the weight of the waterfall. As Harry looked at the rock ledge he was standing on by the side, he noticed many indents and thick vines that looked like they could be used as a climbing device.

Walking along the edge, which led to a hill closer to the lagoon itself, Harry grinned. It was a beautiful area. The ledge didn't have any trees near it, giving a good ten feet of space from the forest. The hill he was on at the moment was now going into the forest. Stepping through some dangling green vines, Harry felt his ear twitch as a sound alerted him to the right. It sounded like someone was running and dragging something with them.

Curious, Harry took off in search of the sound. Running on all fours to pick up speed, Harry came to a stop as the ground grew muddier. He couldn't hear the sound anymore. Harry gave a sigh and stood up straight.

"I wonder what it was," Harry wondered.

"I didn't hear any—"

"Watch out!" a voice roared, interrupting Tagger.

Jerking his head painfully to the right in shock of the voice, Harry was knocked over and sent tumbling as some type of being rapped itself into knots around him.

"Oomph," Harry and the thing groaned.

Getting up, Harry almost jumped back in shock. Some type of giant cobra was wrapped around him. It was huge and had two thick, muscled arms with claws, one of which was rubbing its head. It had tan scales covering it from head to tail, though the head and crown had some dark brown designs.

"Oi, I told you to watch it," the large cobra muttered.

It was much longer than Harry and was slightly thicker than a full grown man. The cobra was about to say something else but a large roar from the distance made him pause. A small earthquake could be felt as whatever was chasing the cobra man was heading this way.

Scrambling out of the coils, Harry jumped up and was prepared to run. Curses and hisses made him stop. Looking back, he saw the cobra was completely entangled around a large log and vines. The rope vines made escape incredibly hard. Glancing at the dust from the animal catching up in the distance over the trees, Harry made a split decision. Harry untied the cobra and they both ran like hell.

Another roar alerted them that whatever was chasing the cobra was gaining on them fast. The cobra grimaced and picked up more speed.

"What did you do to that thing?!" Harry roared over the stampede of whatever was chasing them.

The cobra panted as he held the fur sack he had picked up even tighter. "Stole from it!" it said gleefully, letting Harry know that it was a boy by how deep the voice was.

"You make that sound like a good thing!" Harry shouted back.

"Stealing from an old Quetzalcoatl is definitely something to boast about!" cobra laughed.

"You're insane!" Harry yelled.

Quetzalcoatl's were supposed to be incredibly huge serpents that didn't have scales, but instead hardened feathers and a lethal poison.

"What did you take?" Harry demanded.

His companion laughed. "His feathers!"

Harry's jaw dropped. Just as he was supposed to say something back, another large roar shook the forest and a thick tail swung out of no where, managing to cut right through the trees as easily as a knife through butter, and head straight at them.

Screaming, the two were sent flying and tumbling into the air. Screaming even more, the two grabbed hold of each other as they made their decent.

"Watch out for the tree!" Tagger yelled, unable to stop the amusement he was feeling from staying off his face.

Seeing the thick trees and vines heading toward them, or they toward the vines and trees, Harry nudged the large cobra man hard. "Grab something!"

As one the two grabbed onto a single vine, still managing to hug the other closer in fright, and were sent swinging. Their swing was at first toward the ground before swing in an arc and once again making them gain speed and go flying when the vine broke, and straight into the lagoon with a large splash.

Holding each other tightly with their eyes closed, they both opened their eyes as one as they began to sink. For a full ten seconds they sank to the bottom, still completely in shock, before releasing each other and swimming toward air.

Sucking air in greedily, the two stared at each other once more, this time even longer than before. As one, the two burst out laughing.

"I… I can't believe that!" Harry said, cracking up and finding it hard to stay afloat as he laughed so hard.

"Me neither! You should have seen your face as we were sent flying into the air."

"You should have seen your face as well," Harry returned, still laughing as the two swam back to land and lay on their backs. Still cracking up, the two turned to each other.

"The name's Tsarr," the giant snake boy said, grinning easily and exposing two thin fangs as he pronounced his name as Sar.

Harry returned the grin just as easily. "Harry." The two shook before just resting on the wet grass, taking their time to regain their breath.

"So why the heck would you steal from a Quetzalcoatl?" Harry asked once they regained their breath.

Tsarr gave Harry a smug look and shook the bag's contents. "Getting ready for All Hallows Day."

Harry gave him a queer look. "You mean Halloween?"

"If you like to call it the human way," Tsarr said, looking at Harry closely. He tugged at Harry's shirt. "This look's human made… Did you escape from them?"

Harry chuckled. "Grew up in the human world but decided to try some new surroundings."

"Hate to tell you, but this isn't the safest place." Tsarr sounded completely amused as he tugged more at Harry's clothes. "These will do nothing when winter comes, unless you have some fire in you, dragon boy." Tsarr laughed as he straightened. "If you're new, allow me to be the first one to introduce you to the forest." Tsarr gave a mocking bow before slugging a huge arm that was almost as thick as Harry around his shoulders.

"So what about Halloween?" Harry asked.

"All Hallows Day," Tsarr corrected. "Day of the Dead." He grinned easily. He was just a go happy guy. "What did those humans do to you? Or are all city demons this way?"

"Probably just me," Harry said. Inwardly, he felt a little bad he wasn't being honest that he wasn't really a demon.

"Well, we can't have that! Why don't you come back to my village and learn more about your new home? You city demon's don't seem to know much."

"I'm not that bad!" Harry huffed and shrugged the arm off.

"Uh huh." Tsarr flicked out his tongue mockingly. The forked tongue barely touched his nose. "So, about Hallows Day. It's also the harvest season." Harry gave a hum of understanding. "Hallows Day is the day when the living and the dead are no longer separated by a spiritual boundary but don't know when we pass each other. It's like those ghosts at the castle." Tsarr pointed behind Harry where he assumed was the castle.

"So you have a celebration and then get ready for winter," Harry reasoned.

"Right in one." Tsarr smirked. "Stay with me if you can!"

As quick as a snitch the large snake boy shot through the trees and slithered through the branches with an amazing flexibility. Dumbfounded, Harry could only stare for a moment.

"What are you waiting for?" Tagger snapped playfully. "Get after him!"

Dumbfounded look gone, Harry grinned widely and shot off through the trees with his wings pressed tight against his back.

"Come on, city demon," Tsarr called from up ahead.

The only thing Harry could really follow was Tsarr's tail. While Tsarr was obviously at ease going at such a speed through the trees, Harry was not. He tripped, fell and hit many things. One particular Cockatrice had crowed quite loudly and shot small fire balls at Harry when he stepped on its dragon tail.

"Haha, so slow!" Tsarr teased, lazed about all over a twiggy tree as Harry landed next to him.

"Not… my… fault," Harry said in between breaths. He had never run so fast before.

"City demon is a dead demon if he doesn't get any faster," Tsarr teased.

Harry swung his tail and managed to nick a snickering Tsarr in the hood.

"Welcome to my village," Tsarr said easily, slithering with an arrogant sway towards a very busy snake demon village.

The houses were made out of wood, leaves and pines in the shape of a cone. The earth looked built up on the side which made Harry believe the real house was underground like a tunnel with various openings. Snake demons were slithering everywhere, and not all of them had the head of a snake, but of a human. The females, who didn't have scales covering their chest, wore animal skins, much like the centaurs.

A few snake beings, however, didn't have a snake tail. They had scaled legs and feet that only had two round toes. They had a skinny and versatile tail that moved much like a whip. Their hands had three round fingers that would sometimes play with a thick stick that had sharp rocks at the end. They reminded Harry of ninja's since they could jump away and move so quickly through the trees and pretty much disappear from sight.

Wooden make-shift tables were everywhere, as well as fire pits. One large fire pit stood in the center and already had a healthy fire burning away. A large amount of fruit was gathered near it. As Harry watched closely, Harry could male out several males carrying dead animals towards a single pit that looked like it had ice on the bottom.

"Is there ice in that pit?" Harry asked, pointing to the giant meat pile.

"Of course. How else would we keep that much meat from spoiling?" Tsarr gave him a look that clearly said 'duh'. "Come with me to meet my sissy! We don't get many visitors, but you're a fellow reptile."

Harry felt now was not the time to tell him he was technically a mammal.

"Oi, sissy!" Tsarr called as they made their way through the village, barely getting a single glance.

Another snake demon, this time with blue scales and a human top with tan hair and golden eyes, turned toward them with annoyance. She hissed warningly. "I told you not to call me sissy," she hissed, long black tongue flicking out in irritation.

"Girls are so hissy hissy," Tsarr snickered to Harry.

Tsarr's sister turned to Harry. Her sour expression immediately changed as she lowered her eyes lids and gave an interested hiss. "And just who issss thisss?"

Harry felt a shiver at the expressive s. He suddenly hoped he hadn't accidentally stepped into a Lameon pit.

"I'm Harry," Harry said, bowing his snout just a little and showing off his pointy teeth sheepishly on his closed mouth.

"And I am Ser," she said, blue tail curling into a ball as she eyed Harry up and down.

Harry subtly looked away, pretending to be eyeing the village and the working beings. "Nice to meet you," he said quietly.

Ser chuckled. "He's shy," she stated to Tsarr, much to Harry's increasing embarrassment.

Tsarr chuckled as well, holding a large claw to his snout.

"Big brotha! Big brotha!" a child shouted happily.

"Hey, there's my little king!" Tsarr said happily.

A young boy that had dark red hair, which was almost brown, and a bright, Gryffindor red snake tail came slithering out of Ser's and Tsarr's home. He giggled as he lunged, surprising Harry. The boy was barely past his knees but managed to lunge all the way to Tsarr's head.

The boy giggled as he hung from Tsarr's hood and tried to nudge the tickling hands away from him. He stopped, however, when he caught sight of Harry. He ducked behind Tsarr's hood, hiding his face.

"Don't be scared of Harry here," Tsarr said happily, lifting the boy toward Harry. "He's just a city demon so he could even be taken down by you."

Harry mock glared before waving at the boy, giving a large grin. Hesitantly, he waved back.

"Zan, mind your manner's," Ser said strictly. "What do we do when we meet new people?"

The boy sighed. "Introduce myself," he said sourly, sounding as if that rule had been embroided into his mind. "Hi, I'm Zan," he said with fake excitement.

Harry chuckled and ruffled his hair. "No need to go all out on me," he teased.

Zan grinned beneath Harry's hand, which seemed rather large to his head. Scales really made up in size.

"So where are you residing?" Ser asked.

"Resi… Oh, uh, that way," Harry pointed. He noticed the disbelieving looks. "Well, I know how to get back," he said a little stubbornly.

Ser just nodded, though she did thro Tsarr a glare. "Make sure you help him back. I shudder to think how city demons survive."

Harry scowled. "Just a different territory," he said, pride somewhat hurt.

Ser just hissed disapprovingly. "Men," she muttered, grabbing Zan from Tsarr and taking her leave.

"Ah, don't worry about her," Tsarr said patiently. "She still thinks I get lost in this forest. But forget about that, I'll show you the rest of the village."

Harry followed Tsarr, taking in everything that he had missed when he had first entered.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Latin translation: By my magic I do thee swear by the gods to pledge myself against all human stamina points and boundaries. Let not my human mind be tampered with false images, but with the instinct of the beast within. Shall my strength increase; I release my mind of black and white.


End file.
